Autonomous aerobraking for low-cost interplanetary missions |
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| Institution: | 1. The Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, USA;2. NASA Langley Research Center, USA;3. Analytical Mechanics Associates Inc., USA;1. University of Basilicata, School of Engineering, 10, Ateneo Lucano Street, 85100 Potenza, Italy;2. National Research Council, Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (IMAA), c/da S.Loja, 85050 Tito Scalo (PZ), Italy;1. Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics SB RAS, Irkutsk, Russia;2. Research Centre for Astrophysics and Geophysics MAS, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;3. Irkutsk State Technical University, Irkutsk, Russia;1. Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women''s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA;2. Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA;3. Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA;1. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252 5210, Japan;2. Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, Chiba, Japan;3. Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan;4. Senshu University, Tokyo, Japan;5. University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan;7. Okayama University, Okayama, Japan;1. Science and Technology on Aerospace Flight Dynamics Laboratory, Beijing 100094, China;2. Beijing Aerospace Control Center, Beijing 100094, China |
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| Abstract: | Aerobraking has previously been used to reduce the propellant required to deliver an orbiter to its desired final orbit. In principle, aerobraking should be possible around any target planet or moon having sufficient atmosphere to permit atmospheric drag to provide a portion of the mission ΔV, in lieu of supplying all of the required ΔV propulsively. The spacecraft is flown through the upper atmosphere of the target using multiple passes, ensuring that the dynamic pressure and thermal loads remain within the spacecraft's design parameters. NASA has successfully conducted aerobraking operations four times, once at Venus and three times at Mars. While aerobraking reduces the fuel required, it does so at the expense of time (typically 3–6 months), continuous Deep Space Network (DSN) coverage, and a large ground staff. These factors can result in aerobraking being a very expensive operational phase of the mission. However, aerobraking has matured to the point that much of the daily operation could potentially be performed autonomously onboard the spacecraft, thereby reducing the required ground support and attendant aerobraking related costs. To facilitate a lower-risk transition from ground processing to an autonomous capability, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) has assembled a team of experts in aerobraking and interplanetary guidance and control to develop a high-fidelity, flight-like simulation. This simulation will be used to demonstrate the overall feasibility while exploring the potential for staff and DSN coverage reductions that autonomous aerobraking might provide. This paper reviews the various elements of autonomous aerobraking and presents an overview of the various models and algorithms that must be transformed from the current ground processing methodology to a flight-like environment. Additionally the high-fidelity flight software test bed, being developed from models used in a recent interplanetary mission, will be summarized. |
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