TO URANUS WITH LOW THRUST AND GRAVITY ASSIST

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Abstract

Our knowledge about Uranus and its moons is scarce. To gain insight into the features of this planet and its satellites, an exploration mission is needed. Uranus axial tilt of 98⁰ requires a prohibitive amount of propellant for insertion into an equatorial orbit. To minimize the cost of the orbit insertion maneuver, a combination of low thrust (LT) propulsion and gravity assist (GA) at Jupiter is explored. GA is applied at Jupiter en route to Uranus followed by a LT control strategy that reduces the inclination of the relative velocity respect to Uranus’ equator. Preliminary results show that it is possible to eliminate the plane-change maneuver upon arrival at Uranus at the cost of longer transfer time.

Original languageBritish English
Title of host publicationASTRODYNAMICS 2020
EditorsRoby S. Wilson, Jinjun Shan, Kathleen C. Howell, Felix R. Hoots
PublisherUnivelt Inc.
Pages5287-5298
Number of pages12
ISBN (Print)9780877036753
StatePublished - 2021
EventAAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, 2020 - Virtual, Online
Duration: 9 Aug 202012 Aug 2020

Publication series

NameAdvances in the Astronautical Sciences
Volume175
ISSN (Print)0065-3438

Conference

ConferenceAAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, 2020
CityVirtual, Online
Period9/08/2012/08/20

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