meetings - Space Flight Mechanics Committee

University; Jonathan Hoff, Whitworth University
This study evaluated the ability of eight existing ion and Hall thrusters to meet some of the
key requirements of the OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid 1999RQ36, and return with a
sample of the asteroid to Earth. The thrusters were chosen based on demonstrated
performance and lifetime characteristics at power levels higher than 5 kW, and were
evaluated for this mission at their measured performance levels. The resulting values of trip
time and wet mass at LEO for the evaluated thrusters are compared with the existing plan of
the OSIRIS-REx mission.
14:50 AAS Terminal Guidance Navigation for an Asteroid Deflection Spacecraft
13-413 Shyam Bhaskaran, NASA / Caltech JPL; Brian Kennedy, NASA / Caltech JPL
15:10 Break
Kinetic deflection with a spacecraft is a viable technique for mitigating the threat of an
Earth impacting asteroid. The technique to do this was demonstrated with the Deep Impact
mission, using an onboard autonomous navigation system to perform the terminal guidance
to impact. In this paper, we expand on the use of this system for the various mission
parameters that a deflection mission might encounter, such as the approach phase angle and
velocity, and size and shape of the asteroid. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to
assess the ability of the system to perform the task under the various conditions.
15:35 AAS Trajectory Exploration Within Binary Systems Comprised of Small Irregular
13-414 Bodies
Loic Chappaz, Purdue University; Kathleen Howell, Purdue University
In an initial investigation into the behavior of a spacecraft near a pair of irregular bodies,
consider the full two body problem with an ellipsoidal primary and a second spherical
primary. Two primary configurations are addressed: “synchronous” and “non-synchronous”
configurations. The synchronous configuration represents a system that is analogous to the
Circular Restricted Three Body Problem (CR3BP). Thus, concepts and tools similar to
those applied in the CR3BP are available to design periodic trajectories for a third body in
synchronous systems. In non-synchronous systems, the search for periodic orbits for a third
body is more complex.
15:55 AAS Close Proximity Operations using Stereoscopic Imaging
13-415 Jacob Darling, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Keith LeGrand,
Missouri University of Science and Technology; Henry Pernicka, Missouri
University of Science and Technology; Thomas Lovell, Air Force Research
Laboratory; Bharat Mahajan, Missouri University of Science and Technology
The relative guidance, navigation, and control of a pair of spacecraft using real-time data
from a stereoscopic imaging sensor are investigated. Relative Orbital Elements are used to
model the separation between the spacecraft to ensure the secondary spacecraft stays within
the usable field of view of the stereoscopic imager. An Unscented Kalman Filter is
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23 rd AAS / AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting