A survey of multiple missions using gravity-assisted trajectories
Launch opportunities and advantages of gravity- assisted multiple missions to specific solar system targets
SOLAR SYSTEM↗
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Results for “Interplanetary Mission”
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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Design of a Solar Sail Mission to Mars
A new area of interest in space vehicles is the solar sail. Various applications for which it has been considered are attitude control of satellites, focusing light on the jungles of Vietnam, and a Halley's comet rendezvous. Although for various reasons these projects were never completed, new interest in solar sails has arisen. The solar sail is an alternative to the rocket-propelled space vehicle as an interplanetary cargo vehicle, and manufacture of solar sails on the space station is a possibility. Solar sails have several advantages over rockets, including an unlimited power supply and low maintenance. The purpose of this project is to design a solar sail mission to Mars. The spacecraft will efficiently journey to Mars powered only by a solar sail. The vehicle weighs 487.16 kg and will be launchable on an expendable launch vehicle. The project includes an investigation of options to minimize cost, weight, and flight duration. The design of the sail and its deployment system are a major part of the project, as is the actual mission planning. Various topics researched include solar power, material, space environment, thermal control, trajectories, and orbit transfer. Various configurations are considered in order to determine the optimal structure. Another design consideration is the control system of the vehicle. This system includes the attitude control and the communication system of the sail. This project will aid in determining the feasibility of a solar sail and will raise public interest in space research.
Feaux, K.↗
Orbiter mission design problems.
NASA Voyager project, discussing planetary orbit design and selection and Mars orbiter trajectory
INTERPLANETARY TRAJECTORY↗
Rapid Development of Gossamer Propulsion for NASA Inner Solar System Science Missions
Over a two and one-half year period dating from 2003 through 2005, NASA s In-Space Propulsion Program matured solar sail technology from laboratory components to full systems, demonstrated in as relevant a space environment as could feasibly be simulated on the ground. This paper describes the challenges identified; as well as the approaches taken toward solving a broad set of issues spanning material science, manufacturing technology, and interplanetary trajectory optimization. Revolutionary advances in system structural predictive analysis and characterization testing occurred. Also addressed are the remaining technology challenges that might be resolved with further ground technology research, geared toward reducing technical risks associated with future space validation and science missions.
Young, Roy M.↗
Interplanetary trajectory options for project Galileo
The paper explores interplanetary trajectory options for project Galileo. The classes of trajectory options studied include direct earth-Jupiter trajectories for combined and split orbiter/probe missions, Mars powered swingbys, earth-Venus-earth gravity assists, and earth-deep space delta V-earth gravity assists.
Nock, K. T.↗
A comparison between onestep and other multiconic trajectory propagation methods
The paper presents an optimized version of the one-step multiconic method of spacecraft trajectory propagation in the presence of two attracting bodies. This method is compared to eleven other methods ranging from simple conic propagation to full integration of the equations of motion by applying the methods to a wide variety of test cases taken from planned space missions. This optimize one-step method is shown to be an order of magnitude better than other single-step methods for interplanetary and most lunar trajectories. Multistep multiconics methods and integration of the state offer another order of magnitude improvement, but at a proportionally higher cost and calculation time.
Kiedron, Krystyna↗
MMS Observations of Electrostatic Waves in an Oblique Shock Crossing
High-resolution particle and wave measurements taken during an oblique bow shock crossing by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission are analyzed. Two regions of differing magnetic behavior are identified within the shock, one with active magnetic fluctuations and one with laminar interplanetary magnetic field topology. A prominent reflected ion population is observed in both regions. The active magnetic region is characterized by large-amplitude (>100 mV/m) electrostatic solitary waves, electron Bernstein waves, and ion acoustic waves, along with intermittent current activity and localized electron heating. In the region of laminar magnetic field, ion acoustic waves are prominently observed. Solar wind ion deceleration is observed in both regions of active and laminar magnetic field. All observations suggest that solar wind deceleration can occur as a result of multiple independent processes, in this case current and ion-ion instabilities.
Goodrich, Katherine A.↗
Testing the Gravitational Redshift With an Inner Solar System Probe: the Veritas Case
The NASA Discovery-class mission VERITAS, selected in June 2021, will be launched towards Venus after 2027. In addition to the science instrumentation that will build global foundational geophysical datasets, VERITAS proposed to conduct a technology demonstration for the Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC-2). A first DSAC successfully operated in low-Earth orbit for more than two years, demonstrated the trapped ion atomic clock technology, and established a new level of performance for clocks in space. DSAC-2 would have further improvements in size, power, and performance. It would host a 1× 10 -13 grade USO to produce a frequency output with short-term stability of less than 2× 10 -13 /√ τ (where τ is the averaging time).However, due to funding shortfalls, DSAC-2, had to be canceled. The initially foreseen presence of an atomic clock on board the probe, however, raised the question whether this kind of instrumentation could be useful not only for navigation and time transfer but also for fundamental physics tests. In this work, we consider the DSAC-2 atomic clock and VERITAS mission as a specific example to measure possible discrepancies in the redshift predicted by General Relativity by using an atomic clock onboard an interplanetary spacecraft. In particular we investigate the possibility of measuring possible violations of the Local Lorentz Invariance and Local Position Invariance principles. We perform accurate simulations of the experiment during the VERITAS cruise phase. We consider different parametrizations of the possible violations of the General Relativity, different operational conditions, and several different assumptions on the expected measurement performance. We show that DSAC-2 onboard VERITAS would provide new and improved constraints with respect to the current knowledge. Our analysis shows the scientific value of atomic clocks like DSAC-2 hosted onboard interplanetary spacecraft.
Fabrizio De Marchi↗
Suprathermal ion detector results from Apollo missions.
This paper reviews briefly the knowledge of the ion environment of the moon as obtained from the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment. Topics to be discussed include: an interplanetary shock as seen from the lunar surface; bow shock and magnetosheath ions; magnetotail plasma seen during a magnetic disturbance; suprathermal ions seen during passage of the sunset and sunrise terminators; and ions associated with neutral gas clouds in the vicinity of the moon, and in particular the low energy mono-energetic spectrum of these ions. It is believed that these low energy spectra and some terminator ions can be explained by ion acceleration by the interplanetary electric field. This paper serves as catalog to references to these and other related phenomena.
Freeman, J. W., Jr.↗
Navigating MarCO, the first interplanetary CubeSats
The NASA’s Mars Cube One (MarCO) probes are twin 6U CubeSats that were launched into space on May 5, 2018. The MarCOs shared a launch vehicle with NASA’s InSight mission, separating from the Atlas V Centaur upper stage after InSight. The MarCOs were injected into an Earth-Mars transfer trajectory and were independently navigated to the proximity of Mars. On 26 November, 2018 the MarCO probes flew by Mars as the InSight lander descended to the surface, providing real-time relay of InSight UHF data back to the Earth. This paper describes the approaches used to design the MarCOs’ trajectories and to navigate them to Mars, presenting the challenges of navigating and operating CubeSats in deep space, and the technological firsts achieved by the MarCO mission.
Young, Brian↗
Manned Mars mission transfer from Mars parking orbit to Phobos or Deimos
This paper addresses the problem of orbit transfers from a Mars parking orbit with an inclination of 165 degrees to the Mars moons. The transfer can be accomplished using a three impulse transfer. The current 1999 baseline manned Mars mission requires a Mars parking orbit with an inclination of 165 degrees. This orbit inclination is necessary due to the direction of the Mars arrival and departure asymptotes of the interplanetary trajectory. The selection of this inclination for the parking orbit minimized the delta velocity requirements at Mars arrival and departure. This presents a problem In making transfers from this orbit to either Phobos or Deimos since it is a retrograde orbit. It is possible to make this transfer efficiently using a three impulse transfer and an intermediate transfer orbit with a very large apogee altitude. This paper will show how the intermediate transfer orbit apogee can be determined based on a preselected transfer time, the delta velocities required as a function of transfer time, and the propellant required as a function of mission module weight for a transfer time of 5 days. The data presented in this paper Is specifically for the 1999 opposition class mission but the methods outlined are applicable to any other mission which requires a high inclination parking orbit.
Jack Mulqueen↗
Gateway Autonomy for Enabling Deep Space Exploration
The Gateway spacecraft is an important stepping-stone to exploration of the solar system, integrating commercial and international partners into a tightly coupled system, enabling cislunar activities, and implementing key technologies for missions to Mars. Autonomy is a capability area necessary to handle long communication outages where intervention from Earth is impossible, to prepare to operate with long communication delays that will be common in interplanetary travel, and to make spaceflight more affordable and accessible by reducing sustaining operations costs. The Gateway Concept of Operations states that one of Gateway’s goals is to “focus on infrastructure and systems that will allow autonomous operations aboard the Gateway with robotics, automated systems, advanced communications, and distributed computing.” Gateway’s Vehicle Systems Manager (VSM) and associated Autonomous Spacecraft Management Architecture (ASMA) are key products towards delivering autonomous capability. The primary functions of the control architecture are Mission Management and Timeline Execution, Resource Management, Fault Management, and Vehicle Control and Operation (VCO). In each of these areas, there is an initial level of capability to be delivered at launch, with plans to continue development and grow to greater capability. The initial deployment of VSM will focus on maintaining vehicle safety by focusing on full fault management capabilities and deploying only enough resource and timeline planning functionality to support that. The final deployment of VSM will add significant planning and control optimization functionality to support nominal operations for up to 21 days without ground support, even accommodating fault and failure conditions. While the VSM is the vehicle-level representation of autonomous reasoning, distributed automation is essential to provide the right scope and abstraction of information to process. Module and system support of automation and simplicity of interfaces are two important design paradigms that Gateway is focusing on to garner a systems approach to autonomy. Distribution of reasoning can increase complexity, so Gateway is also taking a strict hierarchical approach to information flow and decision making. VSM is not the only capability necessary to achieve an autonomous spacecraft. Robotics support for maintenance of the spacecraft will be essential to provide continued vehicle functionality even when crew is not present. Technical and programmatic challenges exist when implementing autonomous robotics operations. These challenges include sufficient network flexibility to support data transfer to the rest of the vehicle to coordinate module-to-module robotic walk-offs and finding the proper interfaces to allow sufficient dexterity. Communication system upgrades planned for Gateway include Delay Tolerant Networking to best utilize the complex network of relays that will be part of mature cislunar operations. Distributed computing and management will provide failure tolerance, robustness, and growth of capabilities while still allowing significant reuse of heritage software on heritage systems as well as reuse of common applications across a spacecraft to minimize new development, but this requires adherence to key standards and interfaces. The Gateway program has demonstrated significant progress towards these capabilities and has identified challenges other spacecraft developers should be aware of from the start.
Molly Anderson↗
Gateway Autonomy for Enabling Deep Space Exploration
The Gateway spacecraft is an important stepping-stone to exploration of the solar system, integrating commercial and international partners into a tightly coupled system, enabling cislunar activities, and implementing key technologies for missions to Mars. Autonomy is a capability area necessary to handle long communication outages where intervention from Earth is impossible, to prepare to operate with long communication delays that will be common in interplanetary travel, and to make spaceflight more affordable and accessible by reducing sustaining operations costs. The Gateway Concept of Operations states that one of Gateway’s goals is to “focus on infrastructure and systems that will allow autonomous operations aboard the Gateway with robotics, automated systems, advanced communications, and distributed computing.” Gateway’s Vehicle Systems Manager (VSM) and associated Autonomous Spacecraft Management Architecture (ASMA) are key products towards delivering autonomous capability. The primary functions of the control architecture are Mission Management and Timeline Execution, Resource Management, Fault Management, and Vehicle Control and Operation (VCO). In each of these areas, there is an initial level of capability to be delivered at launch, with plans to continue development and grow to greater capability. The initial deployment of VSM will focus on maintaining vehicle safety by focusing on full fault management capabilities and deploying only enough resource and timeline planning functionality to support that. The final deployment of VSM will add significant planning and control optimization functionality to support nominal operations for up to 21 days without ground support, even accommodating fault and failure conditions. While the VSM is the vehicle-level representation of autonomous reasoning, distributed automation is essential to provide the right scope and abstraction of information to process. Module and system support of automation and simplicity of interfaces are two important design paradigms that Gateway is focusing on to garner a systems approach to autonomy. Distribution of reasoning can increase complexity, so Gateway is also taking a strict hierarchical approach to information flow and decision making. VSM is not the only capability necessary to achieve an autonomous spacecraft. Robotics support for maintenance of the spacecraft will be essential to provide continued vehicle functionality even when crew is not present. Technical and programmatic challenges exist when implementing autonomous robotics operations. These challenges include sufficient network flexibility to support data transfer to the rest of the vehicle to coordinate module-to-module robotic walk-offs and finding the proper interfaces to allow sufficient dexterity. Communication system upgrades planned for Gateway include Delay Tolerant Networking to best utilize the complex network of relays that will be part of mature cislunar operations. Distributed computing and management will provide failure tolerance, robustness, and growth of capabilities while still allowing significant reuse of heritage software on heritage systems as well as reuse of common applications across a spacecraft to minimize new development, but this requires adherence to key standards and interfaces. The Gateway program has demonstrated significant progress towards these capabilities and has identified challenges other spacecraft developers should be aware of from the start.
Molly Anderson↗
Aerocapture Solutions for Uranus Flagship-class Orbiter and Probe
Recent planetary mission assessments, such as the 2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey released by the National Academies of Science, have focused on the need for a flagship-class mission to the Ice Giant planets, particularly Uranus. The Uranus Orbit and Probe mission proposal was used by the National Academies of Science as the baseline while making its recommendation as the top flagship-class mission for NASA in the 2020-2030\'s. This mission which was based on a launch date of 2031 or 2032, used a fully-propulsive orbit insertion maneuver at Uranus (requiring 60-70% of total mass for propellant), and reached the planet after 13 years of interplanetary cruise before the 2049 equinox, a goal of the science community. A pre-2033 launch date is required to conduct a necessary Jupiter fly-by as the giant planet will be not be in the proper alignment for a later launch date. However, as the budget constraints of the NASA budget have pushed back the start date of a Uranus mission, a launch date of a flagship mission before 2033 seems unreasonable. Aerocapture, an orbit insertion maneuver that uses the atmosphere to decelerate, can reduce the propellant load needed for a captured orbit. Additionally, the aerocapture maneuver can decelerate safely while approaching the planet at higher arrival velocities, thus allowing a mission to use a highly energetic trajectory and reduce the cruise time by several years. An aerocapture-enabled solution has launch opportunities in the mid 2030's, including as late as 2038 to reach Uranus by 2049. This paper will discuss the feasibility of an aerocapture option for a Flagship-class mission to Uranus.
Soumyo Dutta↗
Aerocapture Solutions for Uranus Flagship-class Orbiter and Probe
Recent planetary mission assessments, such as the 2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey released by the National Academies of Science, have focused on the need for a flagship-class mission to the Ice Giant planets, particularly Uranus. The Uranus Orbit and Probe mission proposal was used by the National Academies of Science as the baseline while making its recommendation as the top flagship-class mission for NASA in the 2020-2030\'s. This mission which was based on a launch date of 2031 or 2032, used a fully-propulsive orbit insertion maneuver at Uranus (requiring 60-70% of total mass for propellant), and reached the planet after 13 years of interplanetary cruise before the 2049 equinox, a goal of the science community. A pre-2033 launch date is required to conduct a necessary Jupiter fly-by as the giant planet will be not be in the proper alignment for a later launch date. However, as the budget constraints of the NASA budget have pushed back the start date of a Uranus mission, a launch date of a flagship mission before 2033 seems unreasonable. Aerocapture, an orbit insertion maneuver that uses the atmosphere to decelerate, can reduce the propellant load needed for a captured orbit. Additionally, the aerocapture maneuver can decelerate safely while approaching the planet at higher arrival velocities, thus allowing a mission to use a highly energetic trajectory and reduce the cruise time by several years. An aerocapture-enabled solution has launch opportunities in the mid 2030's, including as late as 2038 to reach Uranus by 2049. This paper will discuss the feasibility of an aerocapture option for a Flagship-class mission to Uranus.
Soumyo Dutta↗
Developing Technologies for Biological Experiments in Deep Space
NASA Ames Research Center is the leader in developing autonomous nanosatellites or CubeSats to address strategic knowledge gaps about the effects of space travel on biological organisms, including GeneSat, PharmaSat, and EcAMSat. Now that NASA has set its sights on human exploration in deep space, such missions require significant technological and biomedical countermeasures to protect astronauts from chronic radiation exposure. CubeSats can inform these countermeasures by querying relevant space environments with model organisms and/or biosensors. BioSentinel will be the first interplanetary CubeSat to study the biological response to space radiation outside low Earth orbit in almost 50 years. BioSentinel is an autonomous platform able to support biology and to investigate the effects of space radiation on a model organism in interplanetary deep space. It will fly onboard Artemis-1, from which it will be deployed on a lunar fly-by trajectory and into a heliocentric orbit. BioSentinel, a 6U CubeSat (1U = 10-cm cube), will measure the DNA damage response to ambient space radiation in a model organism, which will be compared to information provided by an onboard radiation spectrometer and to data obtained on the ISS and on Earth. Even though the primary objective of the mission is to develop an autonomous spacecraft capable of conducting biological experiments in deep space, the 4U BioSensor science payload contained within the free-flyer is an adaptable instrument that can perform bio measurements with different microorganisms and in multiple space environments, including the ISS, lunar gateway, and on the surface of the Moon. Thus, nanosatellites like BioSentinel can be used to study the effects of both reduced gravity and space radiation and can house different organisms to answer specific science questions. In addition to their flexibility, nanosatellites also provide a low-cost alternative to more complex and larger missions, and require minimal crew support, if any
biosenses↗
Developing Technologies for Biological Experiments in Deep Space
NASA Ames Research Center is the leader in developing autonomous nanosatellites or CubeSats to address strategic knowledge gaps about the effects of space travel on biological organisms, including GeneSat, PharmaSat, and EcAMSat. Now that NASA has set its sights on human exploration in deep space, such missions require significant technological and biomedical countermeasures to protect astronauts from chronic radiation exposure. CubeSats can inform these countermeasures by querying relevant space environments with model organisms and/or biosensors. BioSentinel will be the first interplanetary CubeSat to study the biological response to space radiation outside low Earth orbit in almost 50 years. BioSentinel is an autonomous platform able to support biology and to investigate the effects of space radiation on a model organism in interplanetary deep space. It will fly onboard Artemis-1, from which it will be deployed on a lunar fly-by trajectory and into a heliocentric orbit. BioSentinel, a 6U CubeSat (1U = 10-cm cube), will measure the DNA damage response to ambient space radiation in a model organism, which will be compared to information provided by an onboard radiation spectrometer and to data obtained on the ISS and on Earth. Even though the primary objective of the mission is to develop an autonomous spacecraft capable of conducting biological experiments in deep space, the 4U BioSensor science payload contained within the free-flyer is an adaptable instrument that can perform bio measurements with different microorganisms and in multiple space environments, including the ISS, lunar gateway, and on the surface of the Moon. Thus, nanosatellites like BioSentinel can be used to study the effects of both reduced gravity and space radiation and can house different organisms to answer specific science questions. In addition to their flexibility, nanosatellites also provide a low-cost alternative to more complex and larger missions, and require minimal crew support, if any.
biosenses↗