Analysis of small spacecraft Mars aerocapture through a single-event drag modulation

Analysis of small spacecraft Mars aerocapture through a single-event drag modulation

Tobia Armando La Marca, Giorgio Isoletta, Michele Grassi

Abstract. In the last years, the scientific interest in Mars exploration has become more and more relevant, driving the development of technologies aimed at improving the current capabilities to land scientific payloads or to insert probes into stable orbits around the planet. In this framework, the use of low-cost small satellites could represent an advantageous solution for both the mission scenarios. In planetary exploration, the aerocapture manoeuvre is considered a promising technique to overcome the limits imposed by specific volume and mass ratio constraints on the design of the propulsion system. Based on these premises, this work focuses on the 2D aerocapture manoeuvre of a small spacecraft equipped with a Deployable Heat Shield (DHS). Specifically, the analysis aims at assessing the aerocapture manoeuvre feasibility exploiting a single shield surface variation.

Keywords
Aerocapture, Drag Modulation, Mars Exploration, Small Spacecraft

Published online 11/1/2023, 4 pages
Copyright © 2023 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Tobia Armando La Marca, Giorgio Isoletta, Michele Grassi, Analysis of small spacecraft Mars aerocapture through a single-event drag modulation, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 37, pp 522-525, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644902813-114

The article was published as article 114 of the book Aeronautics and Astronautics

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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