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Spaceflight Mechanics mid-course exam – 26/05/2022

‚ An interplanetary probe is performing a Hohmann transfer between the Earth and Jupiter.
Assume that Earth’s and Jupiter’s heliocentric orbits are circular with radii r⊕ = 1 au and
rX = 5.20 au, respectively. The spacecraft enters Jupiter’s sphere of influence with the aim of
performing a gravity-assist maneuver. The objectives of the gravity-assist are to obtain a final
heliocentric orbit with period equal to Jupiter’s orbital period, and a post-flyby positive flight
path angle (measured on the final heliocentric orbit).
1. Determine the semimajor axis a1 and the eccentricity e1 of the flyby hyperbolic trajectory.
Check that there is not an impact with the planet (neglecting planetary atmosphere).
2. Calculate the semimajor axis a2 and the eccentricity e2 of the final heliocentric orbit (after
the gravity-assist maneuver).
ƒ A spacecraft is tracking a circular geocentric orbit with altitude h = 600 km and angular velocity
ωo . The inertia dyadic of the spacecraft, calculated with respect to a body-fixed reference frame
TB (C; x, y, z) with origin at the spacecraft center of mass is
⎡ ⎤
6 0 0
[I]TB = ⎣0 8 0⎦ kg m2
0 0 4

At t0 = 0, the body frame TB and the orbital frame TO are exactly overlapped with zero relative
velocity.
1. Determine if the spacecraft may be gravity-gradient stabilized in the selected configuration.
For t ≥ t0 , a disturbance torque starts acting along the y-axis of the body frame. The disturbance
torque
 has a constant component and an impulsive component (applied at t0 ), i.e., [M d ]TB =
0 M + M0 δ(t0 ) 0 where the M = 1 × 10−7 N m and M0 = 2 × 10−7 N m s.
 2π  Ix − Iz
2. Calculate the value of the pitch angle θ at time t1 =  , being σy = .
ωo 3σy Iy

Recall:
R⊕ = 6 378 km (Earth’s radius) ; μ⊕ = 398 600 km3 /s2 (Earth’s gravitational parameter)

RX = 69 911 km (Jupiter’s radius) ; μX = 126 711 995 km3 /s2 (Jupiter’s gravitational parameter)

1 au = 149 600 000 km (astronomical unit) ; μ = 132 712 439 935 km3 /s2 (Sun’s gravitational parameter)

k s k
L−1 = sin(k t) ; L−1 = cos(k t) ; L−1 =k
s2 + k2 s2 + k2 s