TY - GEN
T1 - Mission analysis of near earth asteroid exploration by miniature asteroid interceptors
AU - Kawakatsu, Yasuhiro
AU - Mori, Osamu
AU - Tsuda, Yuichi
AU - Tarao, Kota
AU - Kawaguchi, Jun'ichiro
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Discussed in this paper are the results of the mission analysis of near Earth asteroid flyby missions using miniature Asteroid Interceptors. The Interceptor is an autonomous self-contained interplanetary probe with 10kg mass which is now under development in ISAS/JAXA. It has the capability of navigating itself autonomously to flyby the target asteroid using optical navigation system. The image of the asteroid taken by the camera onboard at the closest approach is the main science output of the mission. Firstly discussed is the mission by a single Interceptor, which enables the minimum size interplanetary mission. The interceptor is launched as a piggy back mission on a geostationary mission, separated on a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), kicked by a solid rocket motor, and injected into an orbit suitable for encountering the asteroid. It is shown that the utilization of the Earth synchronous orbit and the Earth swing-by drastically increase the number of the possible target asteroids, which enables the selection of more scientifically interesting target for a given opportunity. The second mission concept discussed is the multiple asteroids exploration with a single launch. A straightforward application of the single Interceptor mission, that is, the mission by several independent Interceptors is shown firstly, and an option to overcome the difficulty in performing critical operation of multiple spacecrafts simultaneously is also discussed. The list of the target asteroid candidates, detailed mission sequence and maneuver parameters are shown for the assumed example mission.
AB - Discussed in this paper are the results of the mission analysis of near Earth asteroid flyby missions using miniature Asteroid Interceptors. The Interceptor is an autonomous self-contained interplanetary probe with 10kg mass which is now under development in ISAS/JAXA. It has the capability of navigating itself autonomously to flyby the target asteroid using optical navigation system. The image of the asteroid taken by the camera onboard at the closest approach is the main science output of the mission. Firstly discussed is the mission by a single Interceptor, which enables the minimum size interplanetary mission. The interceptor is launched as a piggy back mission on a geostationary mission, separated on a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), kicked by a solid rocket motor, and injected into an orbit suitable for encountering the asteroid. It is shown that the utilization of the Earth synchronous orbit and the Earth swing-by drastically increase the number of the possible target asteroids, which enables the selection of more scientifically interesting target for a given opportunity. The second mission concept discussed is the multiple asteroids exploration with a single launch. A straightforward application of the single Interceptor mission, that is, the mission by several independent Interceptors is shown firstly, and an option to overcome the difficulty in performing critical operation of multiple spacecrafts simultaneously is also discussed. The list of the target asteroid candidates, detailed mission sequence and maneuver parameters are shown for the assumed example mission.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34247108649&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=34247108649&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:34247108649
SN - 0877035288
SN - 9780877035282
T3 - Advances in the Astronautical Sciences
SP - 1773
EP - 1787
BT - Spaceflight Mechanics 2006 - Proceedings of the AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechnaics Meeting
T2 - Spaceflight Mechanics 2006 - AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechnaics Meeting
Y2 - 22 January 2006 through 26 January 2006
ER -