从日地系统L2出发借力月球飞越近地小行星

对于停留在日地系统L2的“嫦娥2号”探测器,其后续飞行方案有多个选项,例如主动撞月或重返月球轨道、返回地球轨道或再入大气、飞往地月系统L1/L2或日地系统L1、进入深空飞越近地小行星(最终,“嫦娥2号”于2012年12月13日成功地实现了对Toutatis小行星的近距离飞越)。探讨上述的飞行方案需要对飞行轨道进行初步设计,总的速度脉冲限制在100 m/s以内并且需要考虑探测器同时受到太阳、地球、月球的引力作用。本研究设计了探测器从日地系统L2出发借力月球实现Toutatis小行星飞越的飞行方案,与直接飞越方案相比,借力月球可以进一步节省探测器的燃料消耗,其等效速度脉冲设计值为58.47 m/s。

Near-Earth Asteroid Flyby Trajectories from the Sun-Earth L2 via Lunar Gravity Assist

There are several flight options for the Chang''E-2 spacecraft after its remaining at the Sun-Earth L2 point, for example, impacting the Moon or recapture into lunar orbit, returning to Earth orbit or atmospheric reentry, heading for halo orbits of the Earth-Moon L1 or L2 or the Sun-Earth L1 point, as well as flying by near-Earth asteroids in interplanetary space (Finally, Chang''E-2 successfully implemented a close flyby of Toutatis, a potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid, on Dec.13, 2012). The analyses of these flight options require designing preliminary transfer trajectories with total velocity impulses no more than 100 m/s in four-body dynamics, in which the motion of the spacecraft is influenced by the gravities of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. In this study, we shall present low-energy Toutatis flyby trajectories from a Sun-Earth L2 quasi-periodic orbit, specifically, via a single lunar gravity assist that is intentionally utilized for exploring potential benefits, compared with the direct transfer manner that is adopted in the practical mission. Compared with the direct transfer trajectories to the asteroid, lunar gravity assist is demonstrated to be capable of saving propellant for the Toutatis flyby mission, and the equivalent velocity impulses are 58.46 m/s.