@inproceedings{KonstantinidisKowalskiMartinezetal.2015, author = {Konstantinidis, K. and Kowalski, Julia and Martinez, C. F. and Dachwald, Bernd and Ewerhart, D. and F{\"o}rstner, R.}, title = {Some necessary technologies for in-situ astrobiology on enceladus}, series = {Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress}, isbn = {978-151081893-4}, pages = {1354 -- 1372}, year = {2015}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{LoebSchartnerDachwaldetal.2011, author = {Loeb, Horst W. and Schartner, Karl-Heinz and Dachwald, Bernd and Ohndorf, Andreas and Seboldt, Wolfgang}, title = {An Interstellar - Heliopause mission using a combination of solar/radioisotope electric propulsion}, series = {Presented at the 32nd International Electric Propulsion Conference}, booktitle = {Presented at the 32nd International Electric Propulsion Conference}, pages = {1 -- 7}, year = {2011}, abstract = {There is common agreement within the scientific community that in order to understand our local galactic environment it will be necessary to send a spacecraft into the region beyond the solar wind termination shock. Considering distances of 200 AU for a new mission, one needs a spacecraft travelling at a speed of close to 10 AU/yr in order to keep the mission duration in the range of less than 25 yrs, a transfer time postulated by ESA.Two propulsion options for the mission have been proposed and discussed so far: the solar sail propulsion and the ballistic/radioisotope electric propulsion. As a further alternative, we here investigate a combination of solar-electric propulsion and radioisotope-electric propulsion. The solar-electric propulsion stage consists of six 22 cm diameter "RIT-22"ion thrusters working with a high specific impulse of 7377 s corresponding to a positive grid voltage of 5 kV. Solar power of 53 kW BOM is provided by a light-weight solar array. The REP-stage consists of four space-proven 10 cm diameter "RIT-10" ion thrusters that will be operating one after the other for 9 yrs in total. Four advanced radioisotope generators provide 648 W at BOM. The scientific instrument package is oriented at earlier studies. For its mass and electric power requirement 35 kg and 35 W are assessed, respectively. Optimized trajectory calculations, treated in a separate contribution, are based on our "InTrance" method.The program yields a burn out of the REP stage in a distance of 79.6 AU for a usage of 154 kg of Xe propellant. With a C3 = 45,1 (km/s)2 a heliocentric probe velocity of 10 AU/yr is reached at this distance, provided a close Jupiter gravity assist adds a velocity increment of 2.7 AU/yr. A transfer time of 23.8 yrs results for this scenario requiring about 450 kg Xe for the SEP stage, jettisoned at 3 AU. We interpret the SEP/REP propulsion as a competing alternative to solar sail and ballistic/REP propulsion. Omiting a Jupiter fly-by even allows more launch flexibility, leaving the mission duration in the range of the ESA specification.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{LoebSchartnerSeboldtetal.2006, author = {Loeb, Horst W. and Schartner, Karl-Heinz and Seboldt, Wolfgang and Dachwald, Bernd and Streppel, Joern and Meusemann, Hans and Sch{\"u}lke, Peter}, title = {SEP for a lander mission to the jovian moon europa}, series = {57th International Astronautical Congress}, booktitle = {57th International Astronautical Congress}, doi = {10.2514/6.IAC-06-C4.4.04}, pages = {1 -- 12}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Under DLR-contract, Giessen University and DLR Cologne are studying solar-electric propulsion missions (SEP) to the outer regions of the solar system. The most challenging reference mission concerns the transport of a 1.35-tons chemical lander spacecraft into an 80-RJ circular orbit around Jupiter, which would enable to place a 375 kg lander with 50 kg of scientific instruments on the surface of the icy moon "Europa". Thorough analyses show that the best solution in terms of SEP launch mass times thrusting time would be a two-stage EP module and a triple-junction solar array with concentrators which would be deployed step by step. Mission performance optimizations suggest to propel the spacecraft in the first EP stage by 6 gridded ion thrusters, running at 4.0 kV of beam voltage, which would save launch mass, and in the second stage by 4 thrusters with 1.25 to 1.5 kV of positive high voltage saving thrusting time. In this way, the launch mass of the spacecraft would be kept within 5.3 tons. Without a launcher's C3 and interplanetary gravity assists, Jupiter might be reached within about 4 yrs. The spiraling-down into the parking orbit would need another 1.8 yrs. This "large mission" can be scaled down to a smaller one, e.g., by halving all masses, the solar array power, and the number of thrusters. Due to their reliability, long lifetime and easy control, RIT-22 engines have been chosen for mission analysis. Based on precise tests, the thruster performance has been modeled.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{LoebSchartnerDachwaldetal.2007, author = {Loeb, Horst Wolfgang and Schartner, Karl-Heinz and Dachwald, Bernd and Seboldt, Wolfgang}, title = {SEP-Sample return from a main belt asteroid}, series = {30th International Electric Propulsion Conference}, booktitle = {30th International Electric Propulsion Conference}, pages = {1 -- 11}, year = {2007}, abstract = {By DLR-contact, sample return missions to the large main-belt asteroid "19, Fortuna" have been studied. The mission scenario has been based on three ion thrusters of the RIT-22 model, which is presently under space qualification, and on solar arrays equipped with triple-junction GaAs solar cells. After having designed the spacecraft, the orbit-to-orbit trajectories for both, a one-way SEP mission with a chemical sample return and an all-SEP return mission, have been optimized using a combination of artificial neural networks with evolutionary algorithms. Additionally, body-to-body trajectories have been investigated within a launch period between 2012 and 2015. For orbit-to-orbit calculation, the launch masses of the hybrid mission and of the all-SEP mission resulted in 2.05 tons and 1.56 tons, respectively, including a scientific payload of 246 kg. For the related transfer durations 4.14 yrs and 4.62 yrs were obtained. Finally, a comparison between the mission scenarios based on SEP and on NEP have been carried out favouring clearly SEP.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{OhndorfDachwaldSeboldtetal.2011, author = {Ohndorf, Andreas and Dachwald, Bernd and Seboldt, Wolfgang and Schartner, Karl-Heinz}, title = {Flight times to the heliopause using a combination of solar and radioisotope electric propulsion}, series = {32nd International Electric Propulsion Conference}, booktitle = {32nd International Electric Propulsion Conference}, pages = {1 -- 12}, year = {2011}, abstract = {We investigate the interplanetary flight of a low-thrust space probe to the heliopause,located at a distance of about 200 AU from the Sun. Our goal was to reach this distance within the 25 years postulated by ESA for such a mission (which is less ambitious than the 15-year goal set by NASA). Contrary to solar sail concepts and combinations of allistic and electrically propelled flight legs, we have investigated whether the set flight time limit could also be kept with a combination of solar-electric propulsion and a second, RTG-powered upper stage. The used ion engine type was the RIT-22 for the first stage and the RIT-10 for the second stage. Trajectory optimization was carried out with the low-thrust optimization program InTrance, which implements the method of Evolutionary Neurocontrol,using Artificial Neural Networks for spacecraft steering and Evolutionary Algorithms to optimize the Neural Networks' parameter set. Based on a parameter space study, in which the number of thrust units, the unit's specific impulse, and the relative size of the solar power generator were varied, we have chosen one configuration as reference. The transfer time of this reference configuration was 29.6 years and the fastest one, which is technically more challenging, still required 28.3 years. As all flight times of this parameter study were longer than 25 years, we further shortened the transfer time by applying a launcher-provided hyperbolic excess energy up to 49 km2/s2. The resulting minimal flight time for the reference configuration was then 27.8 years. The following, more precise optimization to a launch with the European Ariane 5 ECA rocket reduced the transfer time to 27.5 years. This is the fastest mission design of our study that is flexible enough to allow a launch every year. The inclusion of a fly-by at Jupiter finally resulted in a flight time of 23.8 years,which is below the set transfer-time limit. However, compared to the 27.5-year transfer,this mission design has a significantly reduced launch window and mission flexibility if the escape direction is restricted to the heliosphere's "nose".}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{PeloniCeriottiDachwald2015, author = {Peloni, A. and Ceriotti, M. and Dachwald, Bernd}, title = {Preliminary trajectory design of a multiple NEO rendezvous mission through solar sailing}, series = {Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC, Vol. 8, 2014}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC, Vol. 8, 2014}, publisher = {Curran}, address = {Red Hook, NY}, isbn = {978-1-63439-986-9}, pages = {5352 -- 5366}, year = {2015}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{PeloniCeriottiDachwald2015, author = {Peloni, Alessandro and Ceriotti, Matteo and Dachwald, Bernd}, title = {Solar-Sailing Trajectory Design for Close-up NEA Observations Mission}, series = {4th IAA Planetary Defense Conference - PDC 2015, 13-17 April 2015, Frascati, Roma, Italy}, booktitle = {4th IAA Planetary Defense Conference - PDC 2015, 13-17 April 2015, Frascati, Roma, Italy}, pages = {21 S.}, year = {2015}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{PeloniDachwaldCeriotti2017, author = {Peloni, Alessandro and Dachwald, Bernd and Ceriotti, Matteo}, title = {Multiple NEA rendezvous mission: Solar sailing options}, series = {Fourth International Symposium on Solar Sailing}, booktitle = {Fourth International Symposium on Solar Sailing}, pages = {1 -- 11}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The scientific interest in near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and the classification of some of those as potentially hazardous asteroid for the Earth stipulated the interest in NEA exploration. Close-up observations of these objects will increase drastically our knowledge about the overall NEA population. For this reason, a multiple NEA rendezvous mission through solar sailing is investigated, taking advantage of the propellantless nature of this groundbreaking propulsion technology. Considering a spacecraft based on the DLR/ESA Gossamer technology, this work focuses on the search of possible sequences of NEA encounters. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated through a number of fully-optimized trajectories. The results show that it is possible to visit five NEAs within 10 years with near-term solar-sail technology. Moreover, a study on a reduced NEA database demonstrates the reliability of the approach used, showing that 58\% of the sequences found with an approximated trajectory model can be converted into real solar-sail trajectories. Lastly, this second study shows the effectiveness of the proposed automatic optimization algorithm, which is able to find solutions for a large number of mission scenarios without any input required from the user.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{PirovanoSeefeldtDachwaldetal.2015, author = {Pirovano, Laura and Seefeldt, Patric and Dachwald, Bernd and Noomen, Ron}, title = {Attitude and Orbital Dynamics Modeling for an Uncontrolled Solar-Sail Experiment in Low-Earth Orbit}, series = {25th International Symposium on Spaceflight Dynamics, 2015, Munich, Germany}, booktitle = {25th International Symposium on Spaceflight Dynamics, 2015, Munich, Germany}, pages = {15 S.}, year = {2015}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{PirovanoSeefeldtDachwaldetal.2015, author = {Pirovano, Laura and Seefeldt, Patric and Dachwald, Bernd and Noomen, Ron}, title = {Attitude and orbital modeling of an uncontrolled solar-sail experiment in low-Earth orbit}, series = {25th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics ISSFD}, booktitle = {25th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics ISSFD}, pages = {1 -- 15}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Gossamer-1 is the first project of the three-step Gossamer roadmap, the purpose of which is to develop, prove and demonstrate that solar-sail technology is a safe and reliable propulsion technique for long-lasting and high-energy missions. This paper firstly presents the structural analysis performed on the sail to understand its elastic behavior. The results are then used in attitude and orbital simulations. The model considers the main forces and torques that a satellite experiences in low-Earth orbit coupled with the sail deformation. Doing the simulations for varying initial conditions in attitude and rotation rate, the results show initial states to avoid and maximum rotation rates reached for correct and faulty deployment of the sail. Lastly comparisons with the classic flat sail model are carried out to test the hypothesis that the elastic behavior does play a role in the attitude and orbital behavior of the sail}, language = {en} }