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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Low energy near-earth asteroid flyby missions

Evaluations are presented of the flyby performance for all low-launch-energy near-earth asteroid missions for launch opportunities extending from 1995 through 2006, and determinations are made as to the suitability of these asteroids as targets for flyby missions. The performance data are presented in a series of tables. This information can be used to select the most interesting examples of near-earth asteroid flyby missions for a more detailed examination which can include a launch period analysis and determination of spacecraft, earth, and target geometry during the mission.

Sauer, Carl G., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The Mariner Mark II Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby Mission

The Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby will be the first mission in the Mariner Mark II program. The July 1990 launch will result in a fast flyby of the asteroid Tanete in May 1991 and a rendezvous with comet Kopff in February 1994, 879 days before comet perihelion. The spacecraft will return detailed data on the comet nucleus and its environment for nearly 1000 days. Several important comet characteristics will not be precisely known until the spacecraft performs its first measurements, which means that operations strategies must be adaptable to a range of conditions. In addition, the operation of a spacecraft in a dusty environment near a low-mass body imposes unique constraints on trajectory and orbit design.

Stetson, D. S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Trajectory design for a lunar mapping and near-Earth-asteroid flyby mission

In August, 1994, the unusual asteroid (1620) Geographos will pass very close to the Earth. This provides one of the best opportunities for a low-cost asteroid flyby mission that can be achieved with the help of a gravity assist from the Moon during the years 1994 and 1995. A Geographos flyby mission, including a lunar orbiting phase, was recommended to the Startegic Defense Initiative (SDI) Office when they were searching for ideas for a deep-space mission to test small imaging systems and other lightweight technologies. The goals for this mission, called Clementine, were defined to consist of a comprehensive lunar mapping phase before leaving the Earth-Moon system to encounter Geographos. This paper describes how the authors calculated a trajectory that met the mission goals within a reasonable total Delta-V budget. The paper also describes some refinements of the initially computed trajectory and alternative trajectories were investigated. The paper concludes with a list of trajectories to fly by other near-Earth asteroids during the two years following the Geographos opportunity. Some of these could be used if the Geographos schedule can not be met. If the 140 deg phase angle of the Geographos encounter turns out to be too risky, a flyby of (2120) Tantalus in January, 1995, has a much more favorable approach illumination. Tantalus apparently can be reached from the same lunar orbit needed to get to Geographos. However, both the flyby speed and distance from the Earth are much larger for Tantalus than for Geographos.

Dunham, David W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The comet rendezvous asteroid flyby mission

The Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) mission is designed to answer the many questions raised by the Halley missions by exploring a cometary nucleus in detail, following it around its orbit and studying its changing activity as it moves closer to and then away from the Sun. In addition, on its way to rendezvous with the comet, CRAF will fly by a large, primitive class main belt asteroid and will return valuable data for comparison with the comet results. The selected asteroid is 449 Hamburga with a diameter of 88 km and a surface composition of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. The expected flyby date is January, 1998. The CRAF spacecraft will continue to make measurements in orbit around the cometary nucleus as they both move closer to the Sun, until the dust and gas hazard becomes unsafe. At that point the spacecraft will move in and out between 50 and 2,500 kilometers to study the inner coma and the cometary ionosphere, and to collect dust and gas samples for onboard analysis. Following perihelion, the spacecraft will make a 50,000 km excursion down the comet's tail, further investigating the solar wind interaction with the cometary atmosphere. The spacecraft will return to the vicinity of the nucleus about four months after perihelion to observe the changes that have taken place. If the spacecraft remains healthy and adequate fuel is still onboard, an extended mission to follow the comet nucleus out to aphelion is anticipated.

Morrison, David↗
NASA NTRS1992

The comet rendezvous asteroid flyby mission

The Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) mission was approved for a New Start by the United States Congress in 1989. CRAF will be developed in parallel with the Cassini (Saturn orbiter/Titan probe) mission. The two missions have been combined into a joint program because of the substantial cost savings (approximately $500 M, or greater than 25 percent) which can be realized by using a common spacecraft design, several identical science instruments, a single management team, and a joint ground operations and data handling system for the two missions. CRAF and Cassini will be the first users of the new Mariner Mark 2 spacecraft which has been designed to carry out the next generation of planetary missions to the outer planets and to small bodies. CRAF is a joint mission between the United States, Germany, and Italy. Each partner will provide both engineering hardware and science experiments. Cassini is a joint mission between the United States, Germany, Italy, and the European Space Agency (ESA), with ESA providing the Titan atmospheric entry probe, called Huygens.

Weissman, Paul↗
NASA NTRS1993

The Pluto fast flyby mission: Completing the reconnaissance of the solar system

The concept of a fast flyby mission to Pluto has been advanced as a means to complete the reconnaissance of the known solar system. In order to acquire data on the Pluto system at the earliest possible time, and within the professional lifetime of investigators now active in the field, concepts are being developed for relatively small spacecraft in the mass range of 70 Kg to 350 Kg with flight times to Pluto of 7 to 13 years. Necessarily, the science complement on such a mission will be very mass and power limited. The challenge will be to define a spacecraft and an instrument package that will maximize the scientific return within these limitations. Cost, of course, will be a major consideration, and funds for new technology development specific to this mission will not be extensive. Consequently, innovative ways to incorporate elegant simplicity into the designs must be found. In order to facilitate exploration of the Pluto-Charon system, fully integrated science payloads must be developed. Two proposed mission designs involving limited mass and power science payloads have been presented to the Outer Planets Science Working Group (OPSWG). These payload mass allocations range from 5 to 30 kilograms with power allocations as low as 5 watts. The drivers behind these low mass and power allocations are that they enable developing missions to fit within the moderate mission cost profile and allow fast flight times to Pluto (7 to 13 years). The OPSWG has prioritized science goals for this class of reconnaissance mission. Three specific science objectives were identified as the highest priority required for the first Pluto mission. These goals were: (1) study of the neutral atmosphere, (2) geology and morphology, and (3) surface compositional mapping. In order to achieve these science goals within the constraints of low mass, power and cost, it may be necessary to combine the functions of 3 conventional instruments (CCD camera, Ultra-Violet Spectrometer, and Infrared Spectrometer) into one fully integrated payload. Where possible, this payload would share optics, mechanisms, electronics and packaging.

Henry, Paul K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The Pluto Fast Flyby Mission: Completing the Reconnaissance of the Solar System

The concept of a fast flyby mission to Pluto has been advanced as a means to complete the reconnaissance of the known solar system. In order to acquire data on the Pluto system at the earliest possible time, and within the professional lifetime of investigators now active in the field, concepts are being developed for relatively small spacecraft in the mass range of 70 Kg to 350 Kg with flight times to Pluto of 7 to 13 years. Necessarily, the science complement on such a mission will be very mass and power limited. The challenge will be to define a spacecraft and an instrument package that will maximize the scientific return within these limitations. Cost, of course, will be a major consideration, and funds for new technology development specific to this mission will not be extensive...

Henry, Paul K.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Pluto flyby mission design concepts for very small and moderate spacecraft

This paper discusses the trade-offs involved in the design of a Pluto flyby mission using a low-mass spacecraft, the objective of which is the first-ever reconnaissance of the Pluto/Charon system. The analyses include launch opportunity/trajectory identification/launch vehicle trades, flight time vs net spacecraft mass trades, and flyby targeting considerations. Two mission concepts currently under development are discussed. One concept involves an 83 kg dry spacecraft which uses a direct trajectory and a Titan IV/Centaur (with two solid rocket motor upper stages) to reach Pluto in 7 years. The other design is a 316 kg dry spacecraft which uses a 3+Delta VEJGA trajectory and a Delta II (7925) to arrive at Pluto in 13.6 years.

Weinstein, S. S.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Terminal navigation analysis for the 1980 comet Encke slow flyby mission

The initial results of a terminal navigation analysis for the proposed 1980 solar electric slow flyby mission to the comet Encke are presented. The navigation technique employs onboard optical measurements with the scientific television camera, groundbased observations of the spacecraft and comet, and groundbased orbit determination and thrust vector update computation. The knowledge and delivery accuracies of the spacecraft are evaluated as a function of the important parameters affecting the terminal navigation. These include optical measurement accuracy, thruster noise level, duration of the planned terminal coast period, comet ephemeris uncertainty, guidance initiation time, guidance update frequency, and optical data rate.

Jacobson, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The comet rendezvous asteroid flyby mission to Comet Kopff - Getting there is half the fun

The goal of the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby mission (CRAF) is to fly 'outward to the beginning', to examine closely what are thought to be remnants of the origins of the solar system. In particular, the CRAF spacecraft will use a two-year delta-V-earth-gravity-assist (delta-V-EGA) trajectory to reach a rendezvous point near the aphelion of the Comet Kopff, flying by the asteroid 449 Hamburga on the way. This paper discusses the trajectory used to get to the comet. Topics covered include the launch period, possible additional asteroid flybys, the earth flyby, the Hamburga flyby, and the rendezvous with Comet Kopff.

Sweetser, Theodore H.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Orbit determination of the Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby mission - Post-rendezvous phases

Orbit determination during the post-rendezvous phases of the Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby mission is described. The orbit determination process is discussed, with emphasis placed on optical imaging of landmarks and Doppler tracking. Rotational dynamics are introduced for the cometary nucleus. State estimation errors are given for spacecraft trajectory prediction and cometary nucleus attitude prediction. Estimation errors are also given for parameters that describe the cometary nucleus such as moments of inertia and gravity harmonics. The orbit determination performance in support of science observations while in orbit about the nucleus is described.

Miller, James K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Design concept for an IR mapping spectrometer for the Pluto fast flyby mission

The design of an IR mapping spectrometer that exceeds all the criteria of the Pluto Fast Flyby Mission will be presented. The instrument has a mass of approximately 1700 g and uses less than 4 W of power. The design concept is based on an f/3 spectrograph using an aberration-corrected concave holographic grating. Up to four spectral regions can be covered simultaneously by dividing the grating into two to four sections, each imaging the entrance slit on a different area of the array. The spectrography will be fed by a lightweight 5 in. f/3 telescope based on SDIO precepts. In order to provide spectroscopic access to the fundamental molecule frequencies, an extended-range NICMOS array to approximately 3.5 microns and an InSb array going to 5.8 microns will be considered.

Fink, U.↗