Interplanetary Trajectories for Multiple Satellite-Aided Capture at Jupiter

Multiple-satellite-aided capture trajectories at Jupiter using the Laplace resonance

“…The "petals" rotate about 5 • every 2 months, so the next Callisto-Ganymede-JOI flyby sequence that is available for an interplanetary transfer from Earth occurs after nearly 2 years cases, Ganymede and Io double flyby sequences, are tabulated in Table 3. The lower radiation sequences, Callisto and Ganymede double-flyby sequences, are tabulated in Table 7 of Lynam et al (2009). These results show that the flyby sequences that do not have a JOI manuever before flybys are the most "navigationally feasible" when the trajectories are propagated ballistically with no trajectory correction maneuvers.…”

“…For this case, we modify the method to calculate the eccentric anomalies of the spacecraft at the two encounters and solve Kepler's equation for time of flight in Eqs. 8 and 9 of Lynam et al (2009).…”

“…For lower-radiation capture with perijoves above 8 R J , Ganymede-Callisto sequences are the most efficient double-satellite-aided-capture sequences. Table 4 in Lynam et al (2009) gives the V JOI for Ganymede-and Callisto-aided capture, Ganymede-aided capture, Callisto-aided capture, and unaided capture at perijoves above 8 R J .…”

“…The Laplace resonance equation can be rearranged and simplified(see Eqs. 34-39 in Lynam et al (2009)) to form:…”

“…not circular, coplanar orbits) are used to define the positions of the Galilean moons, Jupiter, and the Sun in this model. The higher-order, spherical-harmonic expansion terms implemented for each of the gravity fields are listed in Table 1 of Lynam et al (2009). For the Europa Orbiter spacecraft, the area exposed to solar radiation pressure is estimated to be 12.42 m 2 in NASA's 2008 JEO Mission Study report (Clark et al 2009).…”