Fig 7 - uploaded by Elena Fantino
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The low-energy orbit around Enceladus made by a heteroclinic connection of L 1 and L 2 . The dashed lines represent Planar Lyapunov Orbits. The blue and red trajectories are contained in the unstable and stable manifolds, respectively. The green asterisk signals the connection point.
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All our knowledge about Saturn and its icy ring system comes from the data obtained during the flybys of Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and Cassini, as well as from the observations carried out by Hubble Space Telescope. The discovery of water vapor plumes at the poles of Enceladus and other compelling evidence of the existence of subsurface wate...
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... besides propellant savings. The Planar Lypunov orbits can be used as parking orbits when the spacecraft is waiting to be transferred to another moon. Also, these LE orbits are time-independent, meaning that the motion of the spacecraft on these orbits is not affected by the arrival or departure time. Furthermore, the LE orbits are repeatable. Fig. 7 illustrates a LE observation trajectory around Enceladus made with a heteroclinic connection of the stable and unstable manifolds. The corresponding time of flight, the altitude and velocity variations are shown in Fig. 8. An example of a Dione LE observation trajectory built with a homoclinic connection is shown around in Fig. 9. For ...
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Citations
... The main element of originality of the work resides in the unprecedented concept of achieving orbit around the four moons of Saturn, using only low-thrust (LT) propulsion and gravitational assistance. Preliminary, partial versions of this work can be found in [33,34,35]. Here, we present a complete plan including re-designed interplanetary trajectory with global optimization techniques and revised Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) and transfer to Dione, the first moon of the tour. ...
... The investigation is novel in all its aspects, and its major strength resides in its comprehensive approach, fundamental ingredient to achieve the unprecedented result of inserting a probe into orbit around a sequence of moons of Saturn. Preliminary, partial versions of this work can be found in [33,34,35]. ...
We present a novel concept for a small mission to the four inner large satellites of Saturn. Leveraging the high efficiency of electric propulsion, the concept enables orbit insertion around each of the moons, for arbitrarily long close observation periods. The mission starts with a EVVES interplanetary segment, where a combination of multiple gravity assist and deep space low thrust enables reduced relative arrival velocity at Saturn. As a result, an unpowered capture via a sequence of resonant flybys with Titan is possible. The transfers between moons use a low-thrust control law that connects unstable and stable branches of the invariant manifolds of planar Lyapunov orbits from the circular restricted three-body problem of each moon and Saturn. The exploration of the moons relies on homoclinic and heteroclinic connections of the Lyapunov orbits around the L and L equilibrium points. These science orbits can be extended for arbitrary lengths of time with negligible propellant usage. The strategy enables a comprehensive scientific exploration of the inner large moons, located deep inside the gravitational well of Saturn, which is unfeasible with conventional impulsive maneuvers due to excessive fuel consumption.
... The main element of originality of the work resides in the unprecedented concept of achieving orbit around the four moons of Saturn, using only low-thrust (LT) propulsion and gravitational assistance. Preliminary, partial versions of this work can be found in [33,34,35]. Here, we present a complete plan including re-designed interplanetary trajectory with global optimization techniques and revised Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) and transfer to Dione, the first moon of the tour. ...