New Frontiers Titan Orbiter

Barnes, Jason W.; Hayes, Alexander G.; Soderblom, Jason M.; MacKenzie, Shannon; Hofgartner, Jason D.; Lorenz, R. D.; Turtle, E. P.; Radebaugh, J.; Burr, D. M.; Lora, Juan M.; Neumann, Gregory A.; Vance, S.; Lopes, R. M. C.; Nixon, C. A.; Corlies, P.; Regoli, Leonardo; Sciamma-O’Brien, Ella; Schindhelm, Rebecca; Rodríguez, S.; Coll, Patrice; Mouëlic, Stéphane Le; Heslar, M.; Dhingra, Rajani D.; Stekloff, Jordan; Sittler, E. C.; Solomonidou, Anezina; Malaska, Michael J.; Neish, Catherine; Teanby, N. A.; Vinatier, Sandrine; Birch, Samuel; Hörst, Sarah M.; Coustenis, A.; Karkoschka, Erich; Czaplinski, Ellen; Hayne, P. O.; Brueshaber, Shawn; Maue, A. D.; Dong, Chuanfei; Cornet, T.; McEwen, A.; Ramirez, Kerry; Royer, Emilie; Salama, Farid; Elowitz, M.; Barua, Shiblee Ratan; Rengel, Miriam; Lombardo, Nicholas A.; Lapôtre, M. G. A.; Koeppel, A. H. D.; Fenton, L. K.; Goudge, T. A.; Cable, Morgan L.; Denk, T.; Vu, Tuan; Nna-Mvondo, Delphine; Cordier, Daniel; Lebonnois, Sébastien; Coates, A. J.; Lefticariu, Liliana; Battalio, J. Michael; Fagents, S. A.; Tortora, Paolo; Beyer, R. A.; Momary, T.; Gurwell, Mark A.; Schurmeier, L. R.; Neveu, Marc; Hanley, J.; Limaye, Ajay B.; Daudon, C.; Desai, R. T.

doi:10.3847/25c2cfeb.4c2df948

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Even though aerocapture is not currently considered for the Uranus Orbiter and Probe which is the top priority for the Flagship mission of the next decade [22,23], studies have shown aerocapture offers significant mission design advantages [24]. Aerocapture has also been shown to provide signficant benefits for a New Frontiers class Titan orbiter [25,26], and a Neptune Flagship mission [27,28].…”

Section: Applications For Future Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Small Low-Cost Orbiters for Planetary Science using Photon and Aerocapture

Pradeepkumar Girija

2023

Preprint

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With advancements in low-cost launchers and small interplanetary spacecraft, NASA has recognized the potential of small missions to perform focused planetary science investigations at Mars and Venus. The EscaPADE, part of the NASA SIMPLEx program will deliver two small spacecraft to elliptical orbits around Mars using the Photon spacecraft. Orbit insertion, particularly to low-circular orbits requires significant propellant, taking up a substantial fraction of the Photon wet mass and present a significant challenge for small missions. The large ΔV requirements for low-circular orbit make it difficult to insert small satellites into these orbits even with the highly capable Photon, as the total ΔV for Earth escape and orbit insertion exceeds its capability. Drag modulation aerocapture offers a promising alternative, using the atmospheric drag to obtain the large ΔV.The study shows how the Photon when combined with drag modulation aerocapture can deliver small orbiters to low-circular orbits, enabling a wide range of small orbiter missions. Aerocapture eliminates the need for Photon to provide 2 to 3.5 km/s of ΔV for orbit insertion, which translate into mass and cost savings, and can enable frequent low-cost small orbiters and small satellite constellations at Mars and Venus in the near future.

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Section: Applications For Future Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Dragonfly mission will deliver a relocatable lander to Titan's surface. An orbiter around Titan remains to be accomplished by a future mission [25,26]. However, getting into orbit around Titan requires very large ΔV, which requires enormous propellant and hence drives up the wet mass and mission cost.…”

Section: Titanmentioning

confidence: 99%