Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1771780 | Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics | 2015 | 12 Pages |
Abstract
For the multi-target and multi-mission explorations of near-Earth asteroids in the solar system, how to select the reachable targets from a large amount of asteroids is still an unsolved problem in the low-thrust orbit design. Here we explore the orbit transfer problem of a low-thrust spacecraft in the interplanetary space. Adopting the idea of the perturbation theory of traditional celestial mechanics and taking the low-thrust as a perturbation, in the sense of ï¬st-order approximation, we have derived the necessary condition for the successful transfer of two Kepler orbits in the given time under the action of low-thrust. In formulation, this condition is a simple combination of several orbital elements between the initial and terminal orbits, with a small amount of calculations, it can be used to rapidly reject the unreachable asteroids for the given transfer time and low thrust, and the numerical results have conï¬rmed the feasibility of this condition for the near-Earth asteroid explorations.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Authors
Hu Shou-cun, Zhao Yu-hui, Ji Jiang-hui, Hou Xi-yun,