Detailed results for the top 4 candidate asteroids are shown in Table 7.5. All 4 of these mis-sion have launch dates ranging from 2017 to 2021 and total time-of-flights from approximately 6-9 years. Each of these trajectories can return up to a 500 metric ton asteroid before 2023 to 2029, which is near the desired time frame for a human cis-lunar near-Earth asteroid (NEA) mission [90]. All of these mission require a retrieval ∆V under 200 m/s, which is crucial to minimizing the amount of fuel require for the mission.
The first asteroid examined is asteroid 2008 HU4, which is the reference asteroid considered for the original Keck study [90]. The initial Earth departure spacecraft parameters for all of the mission are shown in Table 7.3. This mission is the first type of mission where the entire asteroid would be towed back to the Earth vicinity.
Table 7.4 Possible candidate for ARM missions
Asteroid Launch Date TOF H (mag) Maximum Returnable Asteroid Mass
2007 UN12 24-Jun-14 6.3 28.7 500 t
2014 BA3 1-Apr-15 8.8 28.2 250 t
2010 UE51 25-Dec-17 5.9 28.3 500 t
2011 AA37 25-May-18 11.6 22.8 100 t
2008 JL24 22-Sep-18 6.5 29.6 250 t
2008 HU4 11-Dec-18 7.4 28.2 500 t
2009 BD 12-Mar-19 15.2 28.1 500 t
2013 EC20 2-May-19 14.0 29.0 250 t
2012 TF79 30-Nov-19 8.8 27.4 250 t
2008 UA202 2-Jul-20 8.2 29.4 250 t
2006 RH120 15-Jul-20 9.3 29.5 500 t
2000 SG344 3-Feb-21 7.3 24.7 500 t
2013 GH66 6-Feb-21 7.2 28.0 100 t
2004 QA22 25-Feb-21 7.7 27.9 100 t
2012 LA 9-Feb-22 12.8 27.6 250 t
2011 MD 10-Sep-22 14.8 28.0 500 t
2011 BL45 5-Feb-23 7.5 27.0 250 t
The mission to 2008 HU4 has the second earliest launch date out of 4 candidate asteroids, as well as a low Heliocentric ∆V for the return retrieval transfer to Earth at approximately 180 m/s. With an optimal launch date of Dec. 11th, 2018 this mission may be too early to complete the development of the spacecraft and develop the technology to capture the asteroid.
It should be noted, as with the Keck study, that the launch date can be pushed back with minimal impact to the final mass returned to the Earth. This is due to the efficiency of the solar electric propulsion system and the low mass, relative to the return tow, during the initial heliocentric phase. The optimal return mass found for asteroid 2008 HU4 is approximately 510 metric tons, leaving 5,500 kg of xenon propellant left for Earth proximity operations. Further details of this mission design can be found in Table 7.5.
The trajectory for the 2008 HU4 retrieval mission is shown in Fig. 7.3. The initial Earth departure trajectory completes approximately 2.5 revolutions around the sun prior to arriving at the asteroid, stays at the asteroid for 117 days. The final retrieval tow phase of the trajectory completes approximately approximately 3.5 revolutions around the sun before arriving at the
Table 7.5 ARM mission design summer for the top four asteroids found in this study.
2008 HU4 2006 RH120 2000 SG344 2010 EU51 Transfer to NEA
Earth Departure Date 11-Dec-18 15-Jul-20 3-Feb-21 25-Dec-17
Escape C3 (km2/s2) 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Flight Time (days) 1239 1398 1227 1108
Heliocentric ∆V (km/s) 3.203 1.766 1.669 2.792
Asteroid Arrival Mass (kg) 13,320 14,049 14,100 13,525 Asteroid Arrival Date 11-Jan-22 13-May-24 13-Jun-24 5-Jan-21
Asteroid Mass (kg) 500,000 500,000 500,000 500,000 Transfer to Earth Vicinity
Asteroid Stay Time 117 178 211 150
Departure Date 8-May-22 7-Noc-24 10-Jan-25 4-Jun-21 Departure Mass (kg) 513,320 514,049 514,100 513,525
Flight Time (days) 1450 1822 1217 881
Heliocentric Delta-V (km/s) 0.179 0.197 0.046 0.160
Arrival Mass (kg) 509,919 510,310 513,219 510,489
Arrival C3 (km2/s2) 1.60 0.27 1.85 1.05
Earth Arrival Date 27-Apr-26 3-Nov-29 10-May-28 3-Nov-23
Total Xenon Used (kg) 5081 4690 1781 4511
Remaining Propellant (kg) 4419 4810 7719 4989
Total ∆V (km/s) 3.382 1.963 1.716 2.952
Total Flight Time (yrs) 7.4 9.3 7.3 5.9
Earth on April 27th, 2026 with a C3 of 1.6 km2/s2
The thrust profile for the 2008 HU4 mission is shown in Fig. 7.4. As the figure shows the maximum thrust is only necessary during the initial phase of the asteroid retrieval return leg.
In addition to this, high thrust for the initial transfer phase is only require immediately after launch and immediately prior to arriving at the asteroid. There is an extended period with no thrust required for both transfer phases of the mission.
The second candidate trajectory and thrust profile shown is the mission to asteroid 2000 SG344. This mission is the alternative mission type, in which pieces of a larger asteroid, are return to the Earth. The details for mission asteroid 2000 SG344 are provided in Table 7.5.
The mission to asteroid 2000 SG344 has an Earth departure date of Feb. 3rd, 2021, with a total flight time of approximately 7.3 years, and a return mass of 513 metric tons. This mission has the highest propellant mass left for Earth proximity operations, at 7700 kg. This mission
−1.5 −1 −0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
−1
−0.5 0 0.5 1
AU
AU
Earth 2008 HU4 Leg 1 Leg 2
Earth Arrival:
27−Apr−26
Earth Departure:
11−Dec−18
2008 HU4Arrival:
11−Jan−22 2008 HU4Departure:
8−May−22
Figure 7.3 Trajectory for asteroid 2008 HU4.
has the lowest propellant requirement at approximately 1800 kg. This mission has the lowest propellant requirement because the ∆V required for the retrieval phase is approximately 50 m/s, which is significantly lower than the return ∆V necessary for the other top 3 missions.
This mission also has the highest arrival C3, of the top 4 candidate asteroid, at approximately 1.85 km2/s2.
The trajectory for this mission is shown in Fig. 7.5. As this figure shows, asteroid 2000 SG344 has an orbit very close to that of the Earth. Both phases of this trajectory complete just under 3.5 revolutions around the sun. The final thrust profile for this trajectory is shown in Fig. 7.6. For this mission a thrust over 1.5 N is never required. This initial transfer to the asteroid requires thrusting during nearly the entire transfer, but never exceeds approximately 0.6 N. The return phase has one period of high thrust, just under 1.5 N, and an extended periods of coasting and thrusting during each revolution of the transfer.
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Time (days)
Thrust (N)
Departure Leg Return Leg
Figure 7.4 Thrust profile for asteroid 2008 HU4.
7.4 Conclusion
A low-thrust mission trajectory design method has been implemented in conjunction with the new hybrid GNLP algorithm to determine feasible asteroid redirect trajectories. The algo-rithm has been developed to automate the search for possible target asteroids. A total of 17 possible target asteroids have been identified and presented in this paper. It has been shown that multiple approximately 500 ton asteroids can be retrieved with a 15 ton spacecraft. The top 4 asteroid candidates, based on maximum possible return mass, time-of-flight, and nominal launch dates are asteroids 2000 SG344, 2006 RH120, 2008 HU4, and 2010 UE51. With typical trajectories, several tons of propellant are left for Earth proximity operations, which could be utilized to establish stable orbits and/or for station keeping maneuvers.
In addition to identifying possible asteroid candidates an modified version of the original Sims-Flanagan transcription has been developed. This modification is able efficiently determine low thrust trajectories by utilizing solutions to Lambert’s problem to replace the required 6 equality constraints with 2 inequality constraints. This modification allows the GNLP solver quickly determine feasible trajectory, with no position discontinuities, and enables the non-linear programming solver to efficiently determine locally optimal trajectories.
−1.5 −1 −0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
−1
−0.5 0 0.5 1
AU
AU
Earth 2000 SG344 Leg 1 Leg 2 2000 SG344Arrival:
13−Jun−24
Earth Arrival:
10−May−28 Earth Departure:
3−Feb−21
2000 SG344Departure:
10−Jan−25
Figure 7.5 Trajectory for asteroid 2000 SG344.
500 1000 1500 2000 2500
0 0.5 1 1.5
Time (days)
Thrust (N)
Departure Leg Return Leg
Figure 7.6 Thrust profile for asteroid 2000 SG344.