Investigation of Uranus and Neptune, via orbiter and atmospheric probes, is required to answer pressing science questions that have been raised in previous Decadal Surveys. As the Ice Giants are the farthest planets from Earth, traditional fully-propulsive orbit insertion missions have transit times to the planetary bodies nearing 13-15 years and require a large amount of propellant, leaving less mass for the scientific payload (dry mass percentages of around 30-40%). Aerocapture uses aerodynamic forces generated by flight within a planetary atmosphere to decelerate and achieve orbit insertion. Although, aerocapture has not been used in the past, recent developments in thermal protection systems, guidance and control, and interplanetary navigation capabilities enable the use of rigid, heritage entry vehicle configurations already flown at other planetary bodies for Ice Giants aerocapture. With the addition of these recent capabilities, aerocapture can robustly deliver spacecraft to Ice Giant orbits, while substantially increasing on-orbit payload mass (more than 40%) and reducing the transit time by 2-5 years (15-30%) relative to fully-propulsive orbit insertion.


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    Titel :

    Aerocapture as an Enabling Option for Ice Giants Missions


    Beteiligte:
    S. Dutta (Autor:in)

    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2021


    Format / Umfang :

    1 pages


    Medientyp :

    Report


    Format :

    Keine Angabe


    Sprache :

    Englisch