meetings - Space Flight Mechanics Committee

9:00 AAS Transfer Trajectory Design for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN
13-384 (MAVEN) Mission
David Folta, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission will determine the
history of the loss of volatiles from the Martian atmosphere from a highly inclined elliptical
orbit. MAVEN will launch Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on an Atlas-V 401 during an
extended 36-day launch period opening November 18, 2013. The MAVEN Navigation and
Mission Design team performed a Monte Carlo analysis of the Type-II transfer to
characterize; dispersions of the arrival B-Plane, trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs),
and the probability of Mars impact. This paper presents analysis of critical events,
maneuvers and DV budgets,and planetary protection.
9:20 AAS Jovian Tour Design for Orbiter and Lander Missions to Europa
13-494 Stefano Campagnola, JAXA / ISAS; Brent Buffington, NASA / Caltech JPL;
Anastassios Petropoulos, NASA / Caltech JPL
9:40 Break
Europa is one of the most interesting targets for solar system exploration, as its ocean of
liquid water could harbor life. Following the recommendation of the Planetary Decadal
Survey, NASA commissioned a study for a flyby mission, an orbiter mission, and a lander
mission. This paper presents the lander and orbiter moon tours. The total DV and radiation
dose is reduced by exploiting multi-body dynamics and avoiding phasing loops in the
Ganymede-to-Europa transfer. Some trajectories are presented in detail, including the
baseline lander tour 12L01, and an orbiter option with Tisserand-leveraging maneuvers and
a gravitational capture.
10:05 AAS Hybrid Propulsion Transfers for Mars Science Missions
13-385 Giorgio Mingotti, University of Strathclyde; Francesco Topputo, Politecnico di
Milano; Mauro Massari, Politecnico di Milano
Special Earth-Mars transfers that exploit both chemical and solar electric propulsion are
investigated in this work. A dedicated launch strategy via Soyuz is considered. Firstly, a
high-thrust, low-Isp impulse is used to place the spacecraft onto an Earth-escape trajectory,
possibly performing a lunar swingby. Then, an heliocentric rendez-vous with Mars is
achieved via low-thrust, high-Isp propulsion, followed by a ballistic capture leading to a
final, low-altitude orbit around Mars. Hybrid propulsion transfers outperform chemical
transfers (Hohmann) in terms of propellant consumption. Furthermore, a few considerations
at system level are also proposed.
10:25 AAS An Orbit Design of AKATSUKI to Avoid Long Eclipse on its Orbit around
13-386 Venus
Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, JAXA / ISAS
AKATSUKI, the Japanese Venus explorer, once failed to inject itself into the orbit around
23 rd AAS / AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting Page 77