ESA F-Class Comet Interceptor: Trajectory Design to Intercept a Yet-to-be-discovered Comet. (arXiv:2107.12999v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sanchez_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Joan Pau Sánchez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Morante_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">David Morante</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hermosin_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Pablo Hermosin</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ranuschio_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Daniel Ranuschio</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Estalella_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Alvaro Estalella</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Viera_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Dayana Viera</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Centuori_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Simone Centuori</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Jones_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Geraint Jones</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Snodgrass_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Colin Snodgrass</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Levasseur_Regourd_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Anny Chantal Levasseur-Regourd</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Tubiana_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Cecilia Tubiana</a>
Comet Interceptor (Comet-I) was selected in June 2019 as the first ESA
F-Class mission. In 2029+, Comet-I will hitch a ride to a Sun-Earth L2
quasi-halo orbit, as a co-passenger of ESA’s M4 ARIEL mission. It will then
remain idle at the L2 point until the right departure conditions are met to
intercept a yet-to-be-discovered long period comet (or interstellar body). The
fact that Comet-I target is thus unidentified becomes a key aspect of the
trajectory and mission design. The paper first analyses the long period comet
population and concludes that 2 to 3 feasible targets a year should be
expected. Yet, Comet-I will only be able to access some of these, depending
mostly on the angular distance between the Earth and the closest nodal point to
the Earth’s orbit radius. A preliminary analysis of the transfer trajectories
has been performed to assess the trade-off between the accessible region and
the transfer time for a given spacecraft design, including a fully chemical, a
fully electric and a hybrid propulsion system. The different Earth escape
options also play a paramount role to enhance Comet-I capability to reach
possible long period comet targets. Particularly, Earth-leading intercept
configurations have the potential to benefit the most from lunar swing-by
departures. Finally, a preliminary Monte Carlo analysis shows that Comet-I has
a 95 to 99% likelihood of successfully visit a pristine newly-discovered long
period comet in less than 6 years of mission timespan.
Comet Interceptor (Comet-I) was selected in June 2019 as the first ESA
F-Class mission. In 2029+, Comet-I will hitch a ride to a Sun-Earth L2
quasi-halo orbit, as a co-passenger of ESA’s M4 ARIEL mission. It will then
remain idle at the L2 point until the right departure conditions are met to
intercept a yet-to-be-discovered long period comet (or interstellar body). The
fact that Comet-I target is thus unidentified becomes a key aspect of the
trajectory and mission design. The paper first analyses the long period comet
population and concludes that 2 to 3 feasible targets a year should be
expected. Yet, Comet-I will only be able to access some of these, depending
mostly on the angular distance between the Earth and the closest nodal point to
the Earth’s orbit radius. A preliminary analysis of the transfer trajectories
has been performed to assess the trade-off between the accessible region and
the transfer time for a given spacecraft design, including a fully chemical, a
fully electric and a hybrid propulsion system. The different Earth escape
options also play a paramount role to enhance Comet-I capability to reach
possible long period comet targets. Particularly, Earth-leading intercept
configurations have the potential to benefit the most from lunar swing-by
departures. Finally, a preliminary Monte Carlo analysis shows that Comet-I has
a 95 to 99% likelihood of successfully visit a pristine newly-discovered long
period comet in less than 6 years of mission timespan.
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