TY - GEN
T1 - Electric propulsion system scaling for asteroid capture-and-return missions
AU - Little, Justin M.
AU - Choueiri, Edgar Y.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - The requirements for an electric propulsion system needed to maximize the return mass of asteroid capture-and-return (ACR) missions are investigated in detail. An analytical model is presented for the mission time and mass balance of an ACR mission based on the propellant requirements of each mission phase. Edelbaum's approximation is used for the Earth-escape phase. The asteroid rendezvous and return phases of the mission are modeled as a low-thrust optimal control problem with a lunar assist. The numerical solution to this problem is used to derive scaling laws for the propellant requirements based on the maneuver time, asteroid orbit, and propulsion system parameters. Constraining the rendezvous and return phases by the synodic period of the target asteroid, a semiempirical equation is obtained for the optimum specific impulse and power supply. It was found analytically that the optimum power supply is one such that the mass of the propulsion system and power supply are approximately equal to the total mass of propellant used during the entire mission. Finally, it is shown that ACR missions, in general, are optimized using propulsion systems capable of processing 100 kW - 1 MW of power with specific impulses in the range 5,000 - 10,000 s, and have the potential to return asteroids on the order of 103 - 104 tons.
AB - The requirements for an electric propulsion system needed to maximize the return mass of asteroid capture-and-return (ACR) missions are investigated in detail. An analytical model is presented for the mission time and mass balance of an ACR mission based on the propellant requirements of each mission phase. Edelbaum's approximation is used for the Earth-escape phase. The asteroid rendezvous and return phases of the mission are modeled as a low-thrust optimal control problem with a lunar assist. The numerical solution to this problem is used to derive scaling laws for the propellant requirements based on the maneuver time, asteroid orbit, and propulsion system parameters. Constraining the rendezvous and return phases by the synodic period of the target asteroid, a semiempirical equation is obtained for the optimum specific impulse and power supply. It was found analytically that the optimum power supply is one such that the mass of the propulsion system and power supply are approximately equal to the total mass of propellant used during the entire mission. Finally, it is shown that ACR missions, in general, are optimized using propulsion systems capable of processing 100 kW - 1 MW of power with specific impulses in the range 5,000 - 10,000 s, and have the potential to return asteroids on the order of 103 - 104 tons.
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84883707187
SN - 9781624102226
T3 - 49th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference
BT - 49th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint PropulsionConference
T2 - 49th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint PropulsionConference
Y2 - 14 July 2013 through 17 July 2013
ER -