This proposed interstellar precursor mission will penetrate into the nearby interstellar medium by achieving 1000 Astronomical Units from the Sun within the working lifetime (about 50 years) of those who started the mission. A variety of science goals and orbital mechanics constraints contribute to the formulation of a list of candidate stars for targeting the solar system escape trajectory direction. An approach is developed that will minimize both launch energy to Jupiter and a subsequent near-Sun, high-ISP, high-thrust maneuver in order to attain a high-speed escape from the solar system towards a target star. Detailed performance characteristics are given for selected reference trajectories.
Ballistic Jupiter Gravity-Assist, Perihelion-ΔV Trajectories for an Interstellar Explorer
J of Astronaut Sci
The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences ; 51 , 2 ; 179-193
2003-06-01
15 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Ballistic Jupiter Gravity-Assist, Perihelion-ΔV Trajectories for an Interstellar Explorer
Online Contents | 2003
|Ballistic Jupiter Gravity-Assist, Perihelion-DV Trajectories for the Interstellar Explorer
Online Contents | 2003
|British Library Conference Proceedings | 2002
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