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Published August 1999 | Draft + Published
Book Section - Chapter Open

The Genesis Trajectory and Heteroclinic Cycles

Abstract

Genesis will be NASA's first robotic sample return mission. The purpose of this mission is to collect solar wind samples for two years in an L_1 halo orbit and return them to the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) for mid-air retrieval by helicopters. To do this, the Genesis spacecraft makes an excursion into the region around L_2 . This transfer between L_1 and L_2 requires no deterministic maneuvers and is provided by the existence of heteroclinic cycles defined below. The Genesis trajectory was designed with the knowledge of the conjectured existence of these heteroclinic cycles. We now have provided the first systematic, semi-analytic construction of such cycles. The heteroclinic cycle provides several interesting applications for future missions. First, it provides a rapid low-energy dynamical channel between L_1 and L_2 such as used by the Genesis Discovery Mission. Second, it provides a dynamical mechanism for the temporary capture of objects around a planet without propulsion. Third, interactions with the Moon. Here we speak of the interactions of the Sun-Earth Lagrange point dynamics with the Earth-Moon Lagrange point dynamics. We motivate the discussion using Jupiter comet orbits as examples. By studying the natural dynamics of the Solar System, we enhance current and future space mission design.

Additional Information

© 1999 American Astronautical Society. We thank Gerard Gomez and Josep Masdemont for many helpful discussions and for sharing their wonderful software tools with us. We thank Paul Chodas for discussions on the SL9 and NEO orbits. We also thank the following colleagues for helpful discussions and comments: Brian Barden, Julia Bell, Peter Goldreich, Kathleen Howell, Angel Jorba, Andrew Lange, Jaume Llibre, Martinez, Richard McGehee, William McLaughlin, Linda Petzold, Nicole Rappaport, Ralph Roncoli, Carles Sim6, Scott Tremaine, Stephen Wiggins, and Roby Wilson. This work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of Technology under a contract with National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In addition, the work was partially supported by the Caltech President's fund, the NASA Advanced Concepts Research Program, the Genesis Mission, and NSF grant KDI/ATM-9873133.

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Published - AAS_99-451.pdf

Draft - LOMjpltr99-0525.pdf

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