Giusy Falcone

• PhD Candidate in Aerospace Engineering at UIUC
• PhD Student at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

We assess the mission performance of a multimode (monopropellant-electrospray dual-mode) propulsion system relative to current state-of-the-art chemical, electric, and hybrid chemical-electric propulsion systems for satellite servicing applications. Performance is assessed for both low-Earth orbit servicers (with total mass of approximately 100 kg)...

Under the auspices of the Keck Institute for Space Studies at Caltech, we convened a group of Mars scientists and engineers, representing multiple academic institutions, NASA Centers, and commercial companies in March 2021 to address the challenge of revolutionizing access to the Mars surface. Following a 3-month summer study period where working g...

View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-2497.vid Aerobraking is a process that uses atmospheric drag for beneficial orbit changes through multiple passes into the atmosphere of a planet. However, aerobraking with current technology is operationally intensive, requiring constant supervision by a ground team for 2-11 months. Autonomou...

Aerobraking is a process used to slow down and insert a spacecraft into a low orbit around a planet. It is composed of many orbital passages into the complex atmosphere of the planet, which is used for braking. The aerobraking atmospheric passages are challenging because of the high variability of the atmospheric environment. For this reason, auton...

An energy depletion guidance algorithm for shallow, high-altitude atmospheric flight, consistent with aerobraking atmospheric passes, is proposed. The guidance algorithm is based on optimal control solutions to the energy minimization problem and uses variable drag area for trajectory control achieved through articulated solar panels. The algorithm...

Aerocapture technology provides a far-reaching capability for missions at destinations across the solar system, from SmallSat to Flagship class. It will enable a new class of SmallSat orbiters, allow high priority missions to carry more science payload to their destination, and open a new rapid transportation pathway to the outer solar system. Sign...

The Aerobraking Trajectory Simulator is a Python-based modeling and simulation tool developed to assess flight performance for the aerobraking mission set. The tool is open-source for the benefit of the entire aerospace community. The simulator can be used to model an entire aerobraking campaign, a single orbit, or a single atmospheric passage arou...

A closed-form approximate solution for shallow, high-altitude atmospheric flight, consistent with aerobraking passes is proposed. The solution includes expressions for velocity, flight-path angle, and altitude for lifting, high-speed atmospheric flight, which can be used to quickly evaluate trajectories. The complete derivation of the solution is p...

WHITE PAPER FOR THE PLANETARY SCIENCE AND ASTROBIOLOGY DECADAL SURVEY, 2023 - 2032 http://surveygizmoresponseuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/fileuploads/623127/5489366/58-2db114bc7ca4334fc80b9da65549fe36_AustinAlex.pdf

White Paper for the Planetary Science Decadal Survey, 2023 -2032

In aerobraking, the orbital energy is reduced by the atmosphere of the planet instead of large propulsive maneuvers resulting in propellant mass savings, which in turn lower launch costs, make extra mass available for the payload, or extend mission lifetime by conserving propellant. However, aerobraking campaigns require 3-9 months to complete and...

Small satellites may provide a low-cost platform for targeted science investigations in the Mars system. With current technology, small satellites require ride shares with larger orbiters to capture into orbit, limiting the range of orbits available to small satellite mission designers. Successful development of an independent orbit insertion capab...

Small satellites may provide a low-cost platform for targeted science investigations in the Mars system. With current technology, small satellites require ride shares with larger orbiters to capture into orbit, limiting the range of orbits available to small satellite mission designers. Successful development of a small satellite aerocapture capabi...

NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM) aims to pick up a boulder from of a large asteroid and transport it to a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon for future exploration by a manned mission. In this paper, we present a detailed analysis for one of the main control challenges in ARRM, i.e., three-axis attitude control of the ARRM spac...