成人头条

Preliminary Mission Design for Proposed NuSol Probe 

Authors: K. Messick, A. Dutta, H. Meyer, M. Christl, N. Solomey 

Abstract: A solar neutrino detector has never flown in space. NuSol is a proposed mission
to fly a solar neutrino detector close to the Sun in order to conduct unique sci-
ence objectives that cannot be realized by detectors on Earth. The paper presents a
preliminary trajectory design for the NuSol mission in order to accomplish the sci-
ence goals, taking into account specified mission cost constraints, a given launch
window, and an overall mission duration. Numerical simulations are presented to
compare different mission scenarios and to identify a trajectory design that realizes
the science goals of the mission. 

Preliminary mission design for proposed NuSol probe 

Author: K. Messick 

A solar neutrino detector has never flown in space. NuSol is a proposed mission to fly a solar neutrino detector close to the Sun in order to conduct unique science experiments that cannot be realized by detectors on Earth. This research presents a preliminary trajectory design for the NuSol mission in order to accomplish the science goals, taking into account operational and specified mission cost constraints, given launch window, and an overall mission duration. To quickly check through a diverse design space of possible
mission solutions, a mission design algorithm was developed in MATLAB. The mission design procedure used in this thesis is based on the standard patched-conics
methodology to break the mission into a sequence of two-body problems, starting with a
hyperbolic Earth escape trajectory and followed by elliptic heliocentric orbits yielding
multiple planetary arrival phases. Minimization of the final perihelion is done by utilizing
multiple consecutive gravity assist (GA) maneuvers to reshape the initial trajectory after a
launch and departure from Earth. As launch costs prove to be a substantial share of the overall mission cost, the study is restricted to initial launch energies which equal 100 km²/s
or less. This study provides insight on the closest reachable distance to the Sun when given a specified wet mass and launch vehicle. The work also addresses many issues in trade offs that arise in multi-GA maneuver mission design studies. These issues include mass trade
offs at launch as well as during the heliocentric transfer when comparing ballistic and
powered GA maneuvers. One of the greatest challenges the research works to overcome is
the computational time and resources that are required when analyzing a vast mission
design space. The results for the study indicate that a currently available launch vehicle can deploy the 1,400 kg spacecraft housing the neutrino detector in a Earth-Venus transfer orbit, which will eventually reach below 20 Solar Radii within the stipulated time of 5 years.