Trajectory of Spacecraft in Aerobraking - Assignment
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Added on 2021-06-15
Trajectory of Spacecraft in Aerobraking - Assignment
Added on 2021-06-15
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Trajectory of Spacecraft in Aerobraking 1LITERATURE REVIEW ON TRAJECTORY OF SPACECRAFT IN AEROBRAKINGNameCourseProfessorUniversity City/stateDate
Trajectory of Spacecraft in Aerobraking 2Literature Review on Trajectory of Spacecraft in AerobrakingAerobraking is a technique used to slow down a spacecraft by the help of the atmosphere or other planet’s outer gas layers. This happens when the maneuver of the spacecraft reduces the apoapsis (an elliptical orbit’s high point) as the vehicle flies through the atmosphere at periapsis (the orbit’s low point)[CITATION Kae17 \l 1033 ]. Aerobraking technology is very important in modern-day spacecraft industry as it improves vehicle performance, increases scientific payloadsavailable for missions and elongates mission duration by simply reducing fuel loads. The first application of aerobraking was in 1991 by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan when they were launching spacecraft Hiten. During this mission, the spacecraft maneuvered through the atmosphere of the earth over the Pacific Ocean at an altitude and speed of 125.5 kilometers and 11 kilometers per hour respectively. Application of aerobraking in this mission saw an apogee decline of 8,665 kilometers. In 1993, Magellan spacecraft also used aerobraking maneuver on a mission to Venus[CITATION dos14 \l 1033 ]. Since then, there are several other spacecraft missions that have used aerobraking and the technology has continued togain popularity and relevance across the world. Today, aerobraking is mostly used to reduce the amount of fuel needed to send a spacecraft to its anticipated orbit around the moon o target planet with a considerable atmosphere. Instead of decelerating the spacecraft using propulsion system, aerobraking uses aerodynamic drag to decelerate the spacecraft[ CITATION Spe07 \l 1033 ]. Despite the numerous potential benefits of aerobraking, it is very important to investigate and establish the trajectory of a spacecraft in aerobraking. The trajectory must be controlled so asto prevent excessive deceleration loads especially on the spacecraft crew and to ensure that the spacecraft mission’s target objectives are achieved. It also helps in avoiding excessive heating[ CITATION Jah06 \l 1033 ]. Generally, orbital spacecrafts are usually not designed with
Trajectory of Spacecraft in Aerobraking 3thermal protection systems or aerodynamics in mind. This means that unless their projector is controlled, orbital spacecrafts can traverse through undesired parts of the atmosphere. Therefore it is very important to ensure that the spacecraft in aerobraking maneuvers through the upper section of the moon or plant’s atmosphere and at the same time keep the heating and aerodynamic loads to considerably low levels throughout the passes. In most cases, the spacecraft in aerobraking is maintained within the desired periapsis control trajectory by using lesser propulsive maneuvers at apoapsis, which regulates the altitude at periapsis. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been conducting studies to establish the actual costs and risks of aerobraking with an aim of modifying the orbit of spacecraft in aerobraking and ensuring that it has smaller orbital period, reduced apoapsis altitude and lower energy (reduced propellant). Originally, the key drawbacks of aerobraking operations included: longer time, large ground staff and continuous DSN (deep space network) coverage. NASA embarked on a mission to reduce the cost of aerobraking operations by developing AA (autonomous aerobraking). Today, aerobraking operations are automated, which has helped in reducing cost of these operations and also improving safety of spacecraft staff[ CITATION Pri11 \l 1033 ]. In the recently completed maneuver by ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter(TGO) of ESA (European Space Agency) and Roscosmos (Russian space agency), aerobraking was used to facilitate the orbit’s alteration in the most economical way. ExoMars was launched in March 2016 and arrived at Mars in October 2016. However, the spacecraft’s orbit was highly elliptical and remained at an altitude ranging between 200km and 98,000 km, which was absolutely inappropriate for the mission. To overcome this challenge, an autonomous aerobraking system was integrated to the system in March 2017 and it successfully decelerated the spacecraft, after taking more than 950 orbits[ CITATION Szo18 \l 1033 ]. This is a confirmation
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