Session
Session II: Bold New Missions Using "Breakthrough Technologies" I
Abstract
The Team Encounter participants, Team Encounter, LLC, AeroAstro Inc., and L’Garde, Inc. have recently completed the preliminary design of the Team Encounter spacecraft, Humanity's First Starship™. The spacecraft, intended to be launched as a secondary payload on an Ariane 5 launcher in the first or second quarter of 2004, consists of two parts: the Carrier, which transports the Sailcraft beyond Earth’s gravity well and the Sailcraft which transports its payload of 3 kg out of the solar system. The Carrier must provide a stable platform for deployment and separation of the 4900 m2 solar sail, and will provide for video streaming of the Sailcraft as it begins its journey. The Team Encounter Sailcraft is the first spacecraft with the capability to self propel itself out of the solar system with a combination of performance-enhancing tacking maneuvers and an areal density of 3.4 g/m2 including payload. The mission analysis made use of an innovative unified Matlab / Satellite Tool Kit model developed by AeroAstro that simulates geometry, attitude and trajectory concurrently. This model was used to optimize motor firing, Sailcraft deployment and mission phasing. The Sailcraft ADCS control scheme was validated via stability analysis and simulation, and the results will be presented in this paper.
Preliminary Design of a High Performance Solar Sailing Mission
The Team Encounter participants, Team Encounter, LLC, AeroAstro Inc., and L’Garde, Inc. have recently completed the preliminary design of the Team Encounter spacecraft, Humanity's First Starship™. The spacecraft, intended to be launched as a secondary payload on an Ariane 5 launcher in the first or second quarter of 2004, consists of two parts: the Carrier, which transports the Sailcraft beyond Earth’s gravity well and the Sailcraft which transports its payload of 3 kg out of the solar system. The Carrier must provide a stable platform for deployment and separation of the 4900 m2 solar sail, and will provide for video streaming of the Sailcraft as it begins its journey. The Team Encounter Sailcraft is the first spacecraft with the capability to self propel itself out of the solar system with a combination of performance-enhancing tacking maneuvers and an areal density of 3.4 g/m2 including payload. The mission analysis made use of an innovative unified Matlab / Satellite Tool Kit model developed by AeroAstro that simulates geometry, attitude and trajectory concurrently. This model was used to optimize motor firing, Sailcraft deployment and mission phasing. The Sailcraft ADCS control scheme was validated via stability analysis and simulation, and the results will be presented in this paper.
