This thesis aims to investigate the potential of a transfer orbit using successive aerocaptures at Saturn and Titan to establish a science orbit around Titan. Titan is an Earth-like moon with a dense atmosphere and organic compounds present. It has many similarities with Earth that are useful to study such as superrotation. Superrotation is when the atmosphere rotates faster than the body it surrounds. In order to study Titan, we need to establish an orbit around it. The Saturn system is distant from Earth, 8.5 Astronomical Units (AU) which makes it difficult to reach from a time and velocity point of view. We propose to use an aerocapture at Saturn to intercept Titan with lower relative velocity in order to perform an aerocapture at Titan. The analysis was performed in primarily MATLAB to simulate the orbits. The results of this showed that we can aerocapture a spacecraft at Saturn and arrive at Titan within roughly 4 to 8 km/s relative velocity regardless of the incoming hyperbolic excess velocity at the Saturn system. This can be improve upon by using intermediate transfer orbits, such as bi-elliptics, to arrive with even lower relative velocities to Titan of as low as 1 km/s. The drag acceleration experienced during the Saturn aerocapture had peak values of between 0.2 and 1.4 g's and acceleration over 50% of the peak is experienced between 6.8 and 8 minutes. This capture method has the potential to make Titan more easily accessible and allow for scientific study of a clear target for improving our understanding of Earth-like processes on other bodies in our solar system. / Master of Science / This thesis aims to investigate the potential of a transfer orbit using successive aerocaptures at Saturn and Titan to establish a science orbit around Titan. Aerocapturing is utilizing the atmosphere of a body to slow down a spacecraft. Titan is an Earth-like moon with a dense atmosphere and organic compounds present. It has many similarities with Earth that are useful to study such as superrotation. Superrotation is when the atmosphere of a body rotates faster than the body it surrounds. In order to study Titan, we need to establish an orbit around it. The Saturn system is distant from Earth, 8.5 Astronomical Units (AU) which makes it difficult to reach from a time and velocity point of view. It takes a large amount of time to get there so we attempt to get there faster by increasing velocity. This means we arrive at the Saturn system with a large amount of velocity that we need to counter-act in order to orbit. We propose to use an aerocapture at Saturn to intercept Titan with lower velocity in order to perform another aerocapture at Titan to slow into an orbit. The analysis was performed in primarily MATLAB to simulate the orbits. The results of this showed that we can aerocapture a spacecraft at Saturn and arrive at Titan within roughly 4 to 8 km/s regardless of the incoming velocity to the Saturn system. This can be improve upon by using intermediate transfer orbits, after capturing at Saturn, to arrive with even lower velocities at Titan of as low as 1 km/s. The drag acceleration experienced during the Saturn aerocapture had peak values of between 0.2 and 1.4 g's and acceleration over 50% of the peak is experienced between 6.8 and 8 minutes. This is relatively gentle for an aerocapture and means the spacecraft likely will not require significant structural support. This capture method has the potential to make Titan more easily accessible and allow for scientific study of a clear target for improving our understanding of Earth-like processes on other bodies in our solar system.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/115631 |
| Date | 03 July 2023 |
| Creators | Payne, Isaac Lee |
| Contributors | Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Fitzgerald, Riley McCrea, Schroeder, Kevin Kent, England, Scott L. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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