Main belt asteroid sample return mission using solar electric propulsion

Innovative interplanetary deep space missions, like a main belt asteroid sample return (SR) mission, require ever larger velocity increments (ΔV's) and thus ever more demanding propulsion capabilities. Providing much larger exhaust velocities than chemical high-thrust systems, electric low-thru...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta astronautica 2008-07, Vol.63 (1-4), p.91-101
Main Authors: Dachwald, Bernd, Seboldt, Wolfgang, Loeb, Horst W., Schartner, Karl-Heinz
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Innovative interplanetary deep space missions, like a main belt asteroid sample return (SR) mission, require ever larger velocity increments (ΔV's) and thus ever more demanding propulsion capabilities. Providing much larger exhaust velocities than chemical high-thrust systems, electric low-thrust space-propulsion systems can significantly enhance or even enable such high-energy missions. In 1995, a European-Russian Joint Study Group (JSG) presented a study report on “Advanced Interplanetary Missions Using Nuclear-Electric Propulsion” (NEP). One of the investigated reference missions was an SR from the main belt asteroid (19) Fortuna. The envisaged nuclear power plant, Topaz-25, however, could not be realized and also the worldwide developments in space reactor hardware stalled. In this paper, we investigate, whether such a mission is also feasible using a solar electric propulsion (SEP) system and compare our SEP results to corresponding NEP results.
ISSN:0094-5765
1879-2030
DOI:10.1016/j.actaastro.2007.12.023