Discovery-class Mercury Orbiter trajectory design for the 2005 launch opportunity

McAdams, J. V.; Horsewood, J. L.; Yen, Chen‐Wan L.

doi:10.2514/6.1998-4283

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…These studies include a Hermes Orbiter study by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and TRW (Cruz and Bell 1995), one by the European Space Agency (Grard et al 1994), one by McAdams et al (1998), and another by Yamakawa et al (2000) from Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). The 1998 and 1999 Mercury orbiter studies described an August 2005 launch with 16.0 km 2 /s 2 launch energy that required two Venus and two Mercury flybys as part of the 4.2-year heliocentric transfer to Mercury orbit insertion.…”

Section: Historical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

MESSENGER Mission Design and Navigation

McAdams

Farquhar

Taylor³

et al. 2007

Space Sci Rev

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Nearly three decades after the Mariner 10 spacecraft's third and final targeted Mercury flyby, the 3 August 2004 launch of the MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft began a new phase of exploration of the closest planet to our Sun. In order to ensure that the spacecraft had sufficient time for pre-launch testing, the NASA Discovery Program mission to orbit Mercury experienced launch delays that required utilization of the most complex of three possible mission profiles in 2004. During the 7.6-year mission, the spacecraft's trajectory will include six planetary flybys (including three of Mercury between January 2008 and September 2009), dozens of trajectory-correction maneuvers (TCMs), and a year in orbit around Mercury. Members of the mission design and navigation teams optimize the spacecraft's trajectory, specify TCM requirements, and predict and reconstruct the spacecraft's orbit. These primary mission design and navigation responsibilities are closely coordinated with spacecraft design limitations, operational constraints, availability of ground-based tracking stations, and science objectives. A few days after the spacecraft enters Mercury orbit in mid-March 2011, the orbit will have an 80°inclination relative to Mercury's equator, a 200-km minimum altitude over 60°N latitude, and a 12-hour period. In order to accommodate science goals that require long durations during Mercury orbit without trajectory adjustments, pairs of orbit-correction maneuvers are scheduled every 88 days (once per Mercury year).

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Section: Historical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

MESSENGER Mission Design and Navigation

McAdams

Farquhar

Taylor³

et al. 2007

Space Sci Rev

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“…The mission design is based on the multiple gravity-assist principles of Chen-Wan Yen (McAdams et al 1998. Following the launch on August 3, 2004, MESSENGER spent a year in an orbit close to that of the Earth prior to a gravity-assist flyby on August 2, 2005, that placed it on a trajectory to Venus for two gravity-assist flybys in 2006 and 2007.…”

Section: Mission Origin and Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Missions to Mercury

Balogh

Grard²,

Solomon

et al. 2007

Space Sci Rev

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“…Table 2 shows how each launch delay affected selected mission performance parameters. Whereas navigation team members at KinetX, Inc., and JHU/APL share responsibility for trajectory optimization and maneuver design, Yen 4 of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, and McAdams et al 5 atmosphere at all lighting conditions. cuts bow shock, magnetopause, and upstream solar wind.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Trajectory Design and Maneuver Strategy for the MESSENGER Mission to Mercury

McAdams¹,

Dunham²,

Farquhar³

et al. 2006

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

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Destined to become the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury, the MESSENGER spacecraft was launched on 3 August 2004. The 6.6-year ballistic trajectory to Mercury will utilize six gravity-assist flybys of Earth (one), Venus (two), and Mercury (three). With three trajectory correction maneuvers completed by mid-December 2005, many more maneuvers will be necessary during the journey to Mercury and the subsequent 1-year duration Mercury orbit phase. The spacecraft's design and operational capability will enable real-time monitoring of every course-correction maneuver. A complex mission plan will provide multiple opportunities to obtain observational data that will help fulfill the mission's scientific objectives. Soon after entering Mercury orbit in mid-March 2011, the initial primary science orbit will have an 80-deg orbit inclination relative to Mercury's equator, 200-km periapsis altitude, 60 • N subspacecraft periapsis latitude, and a 12-h orbit period. With science goals requiring infrequent orbit-phase trajectory adjustments, pairs of orbit-correction maneuvers occur at about the same time every Mercury year, or every 88 days. For the first time, the spacecraft's orbit design at Mercury accounts for the best available Mercury gravity model, small solar pressure perturbations due to changes in the solar array tilt angle, and an improved strategy for performing orbit correction maneuvers.

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Discovery-class Mercury Orbiter trajectory design for the 2005 launch opportunity

Cited by 10 publications

References 3 publications

MESSENGER Mission Design and Navigation

MESSENGER Mission Design and Navigation

Missions to Mercury

Trajectory Design and Maneuver Strategy for the MESSENGER Mission to Mercury

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