Abstract In this work, off-nominal trajectory design options for NASA’s sail-based Solar Cruiser mission are examined. A novel method for constructing bounded trajectories about a periodic reference orbit is used to parameterize insertion into the target sub- L 1 halo orbit. The nominal mission plan of reaching the sub- L 1 halo orbit under purely sail power is then examined for a range of projected launch vehicle dispersions. Results indicate that cold (underburn) injections less than −0.2 m/s are incapable of arriving at the nominal sub- L 1 mission orbit. However, hot (overburn) injections are shown to be much more robust to the nominal mission plan than the low-energy trajectories. The resilience of the overburn cases compared to the underburn cases reveals that the mission would significantly benefit from additional launch vehicle hyperbolic excess energy to ensure mission requirements are satisfied.

    Highlights Nominal Solar Cruiser transfer design for three deployment dates. Novel method for bounded motion generation in ephemeris dynamics. Effects of high and low-energy deployments on Solar Cruiser transfer.


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    Title :

    Off-nominal transfer analysis for NASA’s solar cruiser mission


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 214 ; 53-63


    Publication date :

    2023-10-04


    Size :

    11 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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