Keywords:gravity assist; trajectory design; mission design; orbital mechanics
Publisher:Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2012.
Citation:23rd International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics, Pasadena, California, October. 29 - November. 2, 2012
Abstract:
The scientific desire for global coverage of moons such as Jupiter's Galilean moons or Saturn’s Titan has invariably led to the design of orbiter missions. These orbiter missions require a large amount of propellant needed to insert into orbit around such small bodies, and for a given launch vehicle, the additional propellant mass takes away from mass that could otherwise be used for scientific instrumentation on a multiple flyby-only mission. This paper will present methods—expanding upon techniques developed for the design of the Cassini prime and extended missions—to obtain near global moon coverage through multiple flybys. Furthermore we will show with proper instrument suite selection, a flyby-only mission can provide science return similar (and in some cases greater) to that of an orbiter mission.
