Mission Analysis of Sample Return from Jovian Trojan Asteroid by Solar Power Sail

Jun MATSUMOTO; Ryu FUNASE; Osamu MORI; Yoji SHIRASAWA; Go ONO; Taku HAMASAKI; Naohiro HAYASHI; Toshihiro CHUJO; Norizumi MOTOOKA; Keita TANAKA

doi:10.2322/tastj.12.Pk_43

k) Science and Technology for Human and Robotic Space Exploration

Mission Analysis of Sample Return from Jovian Trojan Asteroid by Solar Power Sail

Jun MATSUMOTO, Ryu FUNASE, Osamu MORI, Yoji SHIRASAWA, Go ONO, Taku HAMASAKI, Naohiro HAYASHI, Toshihiro CHUJO, Norizumi MOTOOKA, Keita TANAKA

Author information

Jun MATSUMOTO
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Ryu FUNASE
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Osamu MORI
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Yoji SHIRASAWA
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Go ONO
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Taku HAMASAKI
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Naohiro HAYASHI
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Toshihiro CHUJO
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Norizumi MOTOOKA
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Keita TANAKA
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo

Keywords: Jovian Trojan Asteroid, Sample Return, Solar Power Sail, Thin-film Solar Cell, Electric Propulsion

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2014 Volume 12 Issue ists29 Pages Pk_43-Pk_50

DOI https://doi.org/10.2322/tastj.12.Pk_43

Details

Abstract

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are planning an outer solar system exploration and sample return mission from a Jovian Trojan asteroid using a 3000 m² solar power sail. The difficulty of this mission is a severe restriction on the weight; only 300 kg is allocated for sampling and returning to Earth. In this weight, fuel for trajectory and attitude control, sampling mechanism, re-entry capsule, and other systems required to return to the Earth are included. In this paper, a preliminary analysis of this sample return mission is conducted. Three scenarios for sampling are proposed; sampling with a 3000 m²solar power sail, with a detachable small solar power sail using electric propulsion systems and with a small probe using chemical propulsion systems. The mission analysis shows that the most feasible configuration is to conduct the sampling with the 3000 m² solar power sail using an extension mast.

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