Abstract With the discovery of 1I ’Oumuamua and 2I Borisov, interstellar objects (ISOs) have been thrust into the forefront of planetary science, and the robotic exploration of ISOs is now of significant interest. With current propulsion technology, rendezvous with these objects is likely infeasible, and thus the maximum science return results from a combination of flyby spacecraft and impactor spacecraft, as demonstrated by the Deep Impact encounter with comet Tempel 1. Interstellar objects by nature have hyperbolic orbits and pass through the inner solar system at extreme velocities, which presents several unique challenges to navigation. This paper first establishes the possible encounter space intercepts with ISOs may present. We then evaluate the ability for intercepting spacecraft to navigate to ISOs and autonomously track/impact targets across the possible encounter space, depending on key navigation hardware such as camera and attitude determination system.

    Highlights Rapid response spacecraft to interstellar objects encounter high solar phase angles. High relative velocities severely limit ground-in-the-loop navigation accuracies. Autonomous navigation can enable successful close flybys and tracking. Autonomous navigation enables impactor guidance, though limited by high phase angles.


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    Title :

    Navigation evaluation for fast interstellar object flybys


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 191 ; 359-373


    Publication date :

    2021-11-08


    Size :

    15 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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