Trajectory Design for Jovian Trojan Asteroid Sample Return Mission

抄録

JAXA has developed a Jovian Trojan asteroid sample return mission using a solar power sail. Jovian Trojan asteroids are among the few remaining frontiers in our solar system and may hold clues to its formation and evolution. However, visiting Jovian Trojans is much more difficult than reaching near-Earth objects because of the large amount of fuel required to reach them. Moreover, large distance from the sun makes power generation difficult. Solar power sails offer an effective way of realizing such challenging exploration. This paper outlines a solar power sail spacecraft and discusses the design of a trajectory for a sample return mission to a Jovian Trojan asteroid. The time of flight is long, but a large payload can be delivered to the asteroid by using a solar power sail. Reducing the duration of a sample return mission is difficult, but it is possible for a one-way mission. This paper presents a trajectory design for such a one-way mission.