Trajectories to Jupiter via gravity assists from Venus, Earth, and Mars

Abstract

Gravity-assist trajectories to Jupiter, launching between 1999 and 2031, are identified using patchedconic techniques. The classical trajectories, such as the Venus-Earth-Earth gravity assist (VEEGA), and many less conventional paths, such as Venus-Mars-Venus-Earth, are examined. Flight times of up to about seven years are considered. The AV-optimized results confirm that VEEGAs are the most effective gravity-assist trajectory type. If the Earth is excluded as a flyby body, Venus-Venus-Venus gravity assists are typically the best option, although at times non-conventional paths are better. These non-conventional paths can occasionally decrease the time of flight significantly, at very minor AV cost, when compared to the classical types.

Automated Multigravity Assist Trajectory Planning with a Modified Ant Colony Algorithm

“…The figure represents two possible solutions to the MGA problem: [1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1] (continuous line) and [2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1] (dashed line). These two solutions share the same parameters for the last transfer: [1,1]. This means that they reach the same target planet with the same type of transfer.…”

“…In Fig. 8(b), it is clear that the set of parameters [1,1] for Transfer 3 belongs to two different solutions. Note that the dependency problem would affect any method (exact or stochastic) that proceeds incrementally along the graph, evaluating one leg at the time.…”

“…Because of the dependency of each transfer on the initial conditions, it is not possible to state that the last transfer has the same value for both solutions: in fact, the two trajectories can be consistently different, and lead to different final conditions and objective functions. For this reason, it makes no sense, for example, to assign a value to the set of parameters [1,1] of Transfer 3 in Fig. 8(a); while it is possible to assign a value to the edge 3-4 in Fig.…”

1st ACT global trajectory optimization competition: Results found at GMV

“…MITRADES was used to obtain such a trajectory. The different "classical" trajectory types were investigated ( V -EGA, VEGA, VEEGA, etc., see [10]). It is important to notice that it was challenging to find a trajectory arriving at Jupiter with the required conditions since, due to the constraint on the earliest allowed launch date (January 2010), there was no time to wait for a more appropriate phasing of the planets.…”

Nuclear electric ion propulsion for three deep space missions

“…The VEE gravity assist has been used successfully for the Galileo spacecraft and the launch window for such a trajectory occurs as often as every year. The velocity increments for the VEE gravity assist trajectory consist of 3.76 km/s for trans-Venus injection from a 500 km low Earth orbit and 6.46 km/s for injection into a Europa sized orbit upon arrival at Jupiter [26]. The mission duration from trans-Venus injection to Jupiter orbital insertion is about 6.3 years.…”