AbstractAt the present time, the search for the knowledge of our Solar System continues effective. NASA’s Solar System Exploration theme listed a Neptune mission as one of its top priorities for the mid-term (2008–2013). From the technical point of view, gravity assist is a proven technique in interplanetary exploration, as exemplified by the missions Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini. Here, a mission to Neptune for the mid-term (2008–2020) is proposed, with the goal of studying several schemes for the mission. A direct transfer to Neptune is considered and also Venus, Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn gravity assists are used for the transfer to Neptune, which represent new contributions for a possible real mission. We show several schemes, including or not the braking maneuver near Neptune, in order to find a good compromise between the ΔV and the time of flight to Neptune. After that, a study is made to take advantage of an asteroid flyby opportunity, when the spacecraft passes by the main asteroid belt. Results for a mission that makes an asteroid flyby with the asteroid 1931 TD3 is shown.
A study of trajectories to the Neptune system using gravity assists
Advances in Space Research ; 40 , 1 ; 125-133
2007-02-21
9 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Analysis of trajectories to neptune using gravity assists
Springer Verlag | 2006
|Analysis of Trajectories to Neptune Using Gravity Assists
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|Analysis of Trajectories to Neptune Using Gravity Assists
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2006
|Analysis of trajectories to neptune using gravity assists
Online Contents | 2006
|A study of trajectories to the Neptune system using gravity assists
Online Contents | 2007
|