Analysis of a Broad Class of Earth-Mars Cycler Trajectories

McConaghy, T. Troy; Longuski, James M.; Byrnes, Dennis V.

doi:10.2514/6.2002-4420

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The work of McConaghy, et al, 5 identifies a cycler denoted the "ballistic S1L1 cycler." Figure 8 in that paper shows remarkable similarity to Case 3 in Fig.…”

Section: Ongoing and Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Various Two Synodic Period Earth-Mars Cycler Trajectories

Byrnes

McConaghy

Longuski

2002

AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Trajectories that regularly encounter Earth and Mars but use small or no propulsive maneuvers are known as cycler trajectories, or cyclers. For cyclers that repeat after two Earth-Mars synodic periods, several variations are possible. A detailed investigation is presented of a simple two synodic period cycler, along with several promising variations using combinations of one-year and half-year phasing orbits. Analysis is included for both the circular coplanar model and a model with actual Earth and Mars ephemerides.

show abstract

“…The work of McConaghy, et al, 5 identifies a cycler denoted the "ballistic S1L1 cycler." Figure 8 in that paper shows remarkable similarity to Case 3 in Fig.…”

Section: Ongoing and Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Various Two Synodic Period Earth-Mars Cycler Trajectories

Byrnes

McConaghy

Longuski

2002

AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Perhaps the simplest and most famous of the Mars cyclers is the Aldrin cycler, named for Buzz Aldrin. 8,9 Several other types of cycler trajectories have been offered as possible solutions by Niehoff; 10,11 Friedlander et al; 12 Brynes et al; 13 McConaghy et al; 14 and Russell and Ocampo. 15 Each of these have their advantages and disadvantages, but the problem of getting cycler vehicles into their cycler orbits is significant, and establishing these transfer trajectories has not been investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary Analysis of Establishing Cycler Trajectories Between Earth and Mars via V? Leveraging

Rogers

Hughes

Longuski

et al. 2012

AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…7 The cycler idea languished until 1985, when Aldrin first proposed the "Aldrin cycler" 8 and Niehoff first proposed the VISIT 1 and VISIT 2 cyclers. 9−11 The existence of the Aldrin cycler was verified by Byrnes et al, 12 and the Aldrin cycler was compared to the VISIT cyclers by Friedlander et al 13 In 2002, McConaghy et al 14 showed that the Aldrin cycler and the VISIT cyclers are special cases in a larger family of cyclers. Several new cyclers were also identified by Byrnes et al, 15 Chen et al, 16−18 McConaghy et al, 19,20 Rauwolf et al, 21 and Russell and Ocampo.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ballistic S1L1 cycler was first identified in 2002 (Ref. 14). It is similar to the "case 3" cycler of Byrnes et al 15 Using the cycler nomenclature proposed in Ref.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Notable Two-Synodic-Period Earth-Mars Cycler

McConaghy

Landau

Yam

et al. 2006

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Earth-Mars cycler trajectories (cyclers) could play an important role in a future human transportation system to Mars. A particular cycler that repeats every two synodic periods and has one intermediate Earth encounter is very promising. In a circular-coplanar model it requires no propulsive maneuvers, has 153-day transfer times between Earth and Mars, and has arrival V ∞ magnitudes of 4.7 km/s at Earth and 5.0 km/s at Mars. A method to find an analog cycler in a more realistic model (i.e., using an accurate ephemeris for the states of Earth and Mars) is described. Two cost metrics are considered: total cycler ΔV and total cycler ΔV plus total taxi ΔV. Numerical solutions are presented for both metrics. The total required ΔV is very small, though not zero. If the Earth-Mars and Mars-Earth transit times are constrained, then the characteristics of the optimal cycler trajectory change. Tradeoffs between maximum transit time and other mission characteristics are analyzed for all possible launch periods. Nomenclature a = orbital elements vector g = vector of V ∞ constraints, km/s h = flyby altitude, km h = vector of flyby altitude constraints, km N = number of intermediate Earth flybys P = primer vector R = position vector of the cycler vehicle, AU S = Earth-Mars synodic period, year T = time for orbits of Earth and Mars to repeat inertially, year t = time since launch, year V ∞ = hyperbolic excess speed, km/s V = magnitude of change in velocity, km/s τ = duration of leg 1, 2.8276 years Subscripts i = Earth encounter index in = incoming out = outgoing

show abstract

Analysis of a Broad Class of Earth-Mars Cycler Trajectories

Cited by 17 publications

References 13 publications

Analysis of Various Two Synodic Period Earth-Mars Cycler Trajectories

Analysis of Various Two Synodic Period Earth-Mars Cycler Trajectories

Preliminary Analysis of Establishing Cycler Trajectories Between Earth and Mars via V? Leveraging

Notable Two-Synodic-Period Earth-Mars Cycler

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About