Long dwell time orbits for lander-based Mars missions

Abstract

Please cite this article in press as: E. Ortore et al., Long dwell time orbits for lander-based Mars missions, Aerosp. Sci. Technol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.ast.2015.06.026 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. 1 Long dwell time orbits for lander-based Mars missionsEmiliano Ortore*, Christian Circi*, Gian Luigi Somma** AbstractThis paper deals with the possibility of retrieving orbits around Mars able to provide long dwell times over a given area of the planet, without needing expensive orbital corrective manoeuvres. After a general description of the fundamental principles associated with the obtainment of the repeating ground track orbits which satisfy the aforesaid requirement, the concepts have been applied to Mars to gain trajectories which make it possible to maximize the daily contact time between a probe orbiting around the planet and a lander on the surface. The lander has been considered as equipped with an antenna of 0.5 m of diameter, working in the bands C, X, Ku, and the cases of both fixed and mobile antenna have been taken into account.