TY  - CHAP
A1  - Duprat, J.
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Hilchenbach, M.
A1  - Engrand, Cecile
A1  - Espe, C.
A1  - Feldmann, M.
A1  - Francke, G.
A1  - Görög, Mark
A1  - Lüsing, N.
A1  - Langenhorst, Falko
T1  - The MARVIN project: a micrometeorite harvester in Antarctic snow
T2  - 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
N2  - MARVIN is an automated drilling and melting probe dedicated to collect pristine interplanetary dust particles (micrometeorites) from central Antarctica snow.
Y1  - 2013
N1  - 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 18-22, 2013, The Woodlands, Texas
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
A1  - Loeb, Horst W.
A1  - Schartner, Karl-Heinz
T1  - A comparison of SEP and NEP for a main belt asteroid sample return mission
T2  - 7th International Symposium on Launcher Technologies, Barcelona, Spain, 02-05 April 2007
N2  - Innovative interplanetary deep space missions, like a main belt asteroid sample
return mission, require ever larger velocity increments (∆V s) and thus ever
more demanding propulsion capabilities. Providing much larger exhaust velocities than chemical high-thrust systems, electric low-thrust space-propulsion
systems can significantly enhance or even enable such high-energy missions. In
1995, a European-Russian Joint Study Group (JSG) presented a study report
on “Advanced Interplanetary Missions Using Nuclear-Electric Propulsion”
(NEP). One of the investigated reference missions was a sample return (SR)
from the main belt asteroid (19) Fortuna. The envisaged nuclear power plant,
Topaz-25, however, could not be realized and also the worldwide developments
in space reactor hardware stalled. In this paper, we investigate, whether such
a mission is also feasible using a solar electric propulsion (SEP) system and
compare our SEP results to corresponding NEP results.
Y1  - 2007
SP  - 1
EP  - 10
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
T1  - Global optimization of low-thrust space missions using evolutionary neurocontrol
T2  - Proceedings of the international workshop on global optimization
N2  - Low-thrust space propulsion systems enable flexible high-energy deep space missions, but the design and optimization of the interplanetary transfer trajectory is usually difficult. It involves much experience and expert knowledge because the convergence behavior of traditional local trajectory optimization methods depends strongly on an adequate initial guess. Within this extended abstract, evolutionary neurocontrol, a method that fuses artificial neural networks and evolutionary algorithms, is proposed as a smart global method for low-thrust trajectory optimization. It does not require an initial guess. The implementation of evolutionary neurocontrol is detailed and its performance is shown for an exemplary mission.
KW  - Evolutionary Neurocontrol
KW  - Spacecraft Trajectory Optimization
KW  - Low-Thrust Propulsion
Y1  - 2005
SP  - 85
EP  - 90
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Baturkin, Volodymyr
A1  - Coverstone, Victoria
A1  - Diedrich, Ben
A1  - Garbe, Gregory
A1  - Görlich, Marianne
A1  - Leipold, Manfred
A1  - Lura, Franz
A1  - Macdonald, Malcolm
A1  - McInnes, Colin
A1  - Mengali, Giovanni
A1  - Quarta, Alessandro
A1  - Rios-Reyes, Leonel
A1  - Scheeres, Daniel J.
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
A1  - Wie, Bong
T1  - Potential effects of optical solar sail degredation on trajectory design
T2  - AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist
N2  - The optical properties of the thin metalized polymer films that are projected for solar sails are assumed to be affected by the erosive effects of the space environment. Their degradation behavior in the real space environment, however, is to a considerable degree indefinite, because initial ground test results are controversial and relevant inspace tests have not been made so far. The standard optical solar sail models that are currently used for trajectory design do not take optical degradation into account, hence its potential effects on trajectory design have not been investigated so far. Nevertheless, optical degradation is important for high-fidelity solar sail mission design, because it decreases both the magnitude of the solar radiation pressure force acting on the sail and also the sail control authority. Therefore, we propose a simple parametric optical solar sail degradation model that describes the variation of the sail film’s optical coefficients with time, depending on the sail film’s environmental history, i.e., the radiation dose. The primary intention of our model is not to describe the exact behavior of specific film-coating combinations in the real space environment, but to provide a more general parametric framework for describing the general optical degradation behavior of solar sails. Using our model, the effects of different optical degradation behaviors on trajectory design are investigated for various exemplary missions.
Y1  - 2005
N1  - 2005 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, 7-11.08.2005. Lake Tahoe, California
https://www.space-flight.org/AAS_meetings/2005_astro/2005_astro.html
SP  - 1
EP  - 23
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Gehler, M.
A1  - Ober-Blöbaum, S.
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
T1  - Application of discrete mechanics and optimal control to spacecraft in non-keplerian motion around small solar system bodies
T2  - Procceedings of the 60th International Astronautical Congress
N2  - Prolonged operations close to small solar system bodies require a sophisticated control logic to minimize propellant mass and maximize operational efficiency. A control logic based on Discrete Mechanics and Optimal Control (DMOC) is proposed and applied to both conventionally propelled and solar sail spacecraft operating at an arbitrarily shaped asteroid in the class of Itokawa. As an example, stand-off inertial hovering is considered, recently identified as a challenging part of the Marco Polo mission. The approach is easily extended to stand-off orbits. We show that DMOC is applicable to spacecraft control at small objects, in particular with regard to the fact that the changes in gravity are exploited by the algorithm to optimally control the spacecraft position. Furthermore, we provide some remarks on promising developments.
KW  - Spacecraft
Y1  - 2009
SN  - 978-161567908-9
N1  - 60th International Astronautical Congress 2009, IAC 2009; Daejeon; South Korea; 12 October 2009 through 16 October 2009
SP  - 1360
EP  - 1371
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Wurm, P.
T1  - Design concept and modeling of an advanced solar photon thruster
T2  - Advances in the Astronautical Sciences
N2  - The so-called "compound solar sail", also known as "Solar Photon Thruster" (SPT), holds the potential of providing significant performance advantages over the flat solar sail. Previous SPT design concepts, however, do not consider shadowing effects and multiple reflections of highly concentrated solar radiation that would inevitably destroy the gossamer sail film. In this paper, we propose a novel advanced SPT (ASPT) design concept that does not suffer from these oversimplifications. We present the equations that describe the thrust force acting on such a sail system and compare its performance with respect to the conventional flat solar sail.
KW  - solar sails
Y1  - 2009
SN  - 978-087703554-1
SN  - 00653438
N1  - 19th AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting; Savannah, GA; United States; 8 February 2009 through 12 February 2009
SP  - 723
EP  - 740
PB  - American Astronautical Society
CY  - San Diego, Calif.
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
ED  - Knopf, George K.
ED  - Otani, Yukitoshi
T1  - Light propulsion systems for spacecraft
T2  - Optical nano and micro actuator technology
Y1  - 2017
SN  - 9781315217628 (eBook)
SP  - 577
EP  - 598
PB  - CRC Press
CY  - Boca Raton
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Wurm, P.
T1  - Mission analysis for an advanced solar photon thruster
T2  - 60th International Astronautical Congress 2009, IAC 2009
N2  - The so-called "compound solar sail", also known as "Solar Photon Thruster" (SPT), is a solar sail design concept, for which the two basic functions of the solar sail, namely light collection and thrust direction, are uncoupled. In this paper, we introduce a novel SPT concept, termed the Advanced Solar Photon Thruster (ASPT). This model does not suffer from the simplified assumptions that have been made for the analysis of compound solar sails in previous studies. We present the equations that describe the force, which acts on the ASPT. After a detailed design analysis, the performance of the ASPT with respect to the conventional flat solar sail (FSS) is investigated for three interplanetary mission scenarios: An Earth-Venus rendezvous, where the solar sail has to spiral towards the Sun, an Earth-Mars rendezvous, where the solar sail has to spiral away from the Sun, and an Earth-NEA rendezvous (to near-Earth asteroid 1996FG3), where a large orbital eccentricity change is required. The investigated solar sails have realistic near-term characteristic accelerations between 0.1 and 0.2mm/s2. Our results show that a SPT is not superior to the flat solar sail unless very idealistic assumptions are made.
KW  - Interplanetary flight
Y1  - 2009
SN  - 978-161567908-9
N1  - 60th International Astronautical Congress 2009, IAC 2009; Daejeon; South Korea; 12 October 2009 through 16 October 2009
VL  - Vol. 8
SP  - 6838
EP  - 6851
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Grundmann, Jan Thimo
A1  - Bauer, Wlademar
A1  - Borchers, Kai
A1  - Dumont, Etienne
A1  - Grimm, Christian D.
A1  - Ho, Tra-Mi
A1  - Jahnke, Rico
A1  - Koch, Aaron D.
A1  - Lange, Caroline
A1  - Maiwald, Volker
A1  - Meß, Jan-Gerd
A1  - Mikulz, Eugen
A1  - Quantius, Dominik
A1  - Reershemius, Siebo
A1  - Renger, Thomas
A1  - Sasaki, Kaname
A1  - Seefeldt, Patric
A1  - Spietz, Peter
A1  - Spröwitz, Tom
A1  - Sznajder, Maciej
A1  - Toth, Norbert
A1  - Ceriotti, Matteo
A1  - McInnes, Colin
A1  - Peloni, Alessandro
A1  - Biele, Jens
A1  - Krause, Christian
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Hercik, David
A1  - Lichtenheldt, Roy
A1  - Wolff, Friederike
A1  - Koncz, Alexander
A1  - Pelivan, Ivanka
A1  - Schmitz, Nicole
A1  - Boden, Ralf
A1  - Riemann, Johannes
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
A1  - Wejmo, Elisabet
A1  - Ziach, Christian
A1  - Mikschl, Tobias
A1  - Montenegro, Sergio
A1  - Ruffer, Michael
A1  - Cordero, Federico
A1  - Tardivel, Simon
T1  - Solar sails for planetary defense & high-energy missions
T2  - IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings
N2  - 20 years after the successful ground deployment test of a (20 m) 2 solar sail at DLR Cologne, and in the light of the upcoming U.S. NEAscout mission, we provide an overview of the progress made since in our mission and hardware design studies as well as the hardware built in the course of our solar sail technology development. We outline the most likely and most efficient routes to develop solar sails for useful missions in science and applications, based on our developed `now-term' and near-term hardware as well as the many practical and managerial lessons learned from the DLR-ESTEC Gossamer Roadmap. Mission types directly applicable to planetary defense include single and Multiple NEA Rendezvous ((M)NR) for precursor, monitoring and follow-up scenarios as well as sail-propelled head-on retrograde kinetic impactors (RKI) for mitigation. Other mission types such as the Displaced L1 (DL1) space weather advance warning and monitoring or Solar Polar Orbiter (SPO) types demonstrate the capability of near-term solar sails to achieve asteroid rendezvous in any kind of orbit, from Earth-coorbital to extremely inclined and even retrograde orbits. Some of these mission types such as SPO, (M)NR and RKI include separable payloads. For one-way access to the asteroid surface, nanolanders like MASCOT are an ideal match for solar sails in micro-spacecraft format, i.e. in launch configurations compatible with ESPA and ASAP secondary payload platforms. Larger landers similar to the JAXA-DLR study of a Jupiter Trojan asteroid lander for the OKEANOS mission can shuttle from the sail to the asteroids visited and enable multiple NEA sample-return missions. The high impact velocities and re-try capability achieved by the RKI mission type on a final orbit identical to the target asteroid's but retrograde to its motion enables small spacecraft size impactors to carry sufficient kinetic energy for deflection.
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/AERO.2019.8741900
N1  - AERO 2019; Big Sky; United States; 2 March 2019 through 9 March 2019
SP  - 1
EP  - 21
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Loeb, Horst Wolfgang
A1  - Schartner, Karl-Heinz
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Ohndorf, Andreas
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
T1  - Interstellar heliopause probe
JF  - Труды МАИ
N2  - 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 traveling 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 European Space Agency (ESA). Two propulsion options for the mission have been proposed and discussed so far: the solar sail propulsion and the ballistic/radioisotope-electric propulsion (REP). As a further alternative, we here investigate a combination of solar-electric propulsion (SEP) and REP. The SEP stage consists of six 22-cms 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 at begin of mission (BOM) is provided by a lightweight solar array.
Y1  - 2012
IS  - 60
SP  - 2
EP  - 2
PB  - Moskauer Staatliches Luftfahrtinstitut (МАИ)
CY  - Moskau
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Ohndorf, Andreas
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
A1  - Schartner, Karl-Heinz
T1  - Flight times to the heliopause using a combination of solar and radioisotope electric propulsion
T2  - 32nd International Electric Propulsion Conference
N2  - 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".
KW  - low-thrust trajectory optimization
KW  - heliosphere
KW  - ion propulsion
Y1  - 2011
N1  - IEPC-2011-051
32nd International Electric Propulsion Conference,September 11–15, 2011
Wiesbaden, Germany
SP  - 1
EP  - 12
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Borggräfe, Andreas
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
T1  - Mission performance evaluation for solar sails using a refined SRP force model with variable optical coefficients
T2  - 2nd International Symposium on Solar Sailing
N2  - Solar sails provide ignificant advantages over other low-thrust propulsion systems because they produce thrust by the momentum exchange from solar radiation pressure (SRP) and thus do not consume any propellant.The force exerted on a very thin sail foil basically depends on the light incidence angle. Several analytical SRP force models that describe the SRP force acting on the sail have been established since the 1970s. All the widely used models use constant optical force coefficients of the reflecting sail material. In 2006,MENGALI et al. proposed a refined SRP force model that takes into account the dependancy of the force coefficients on the light incident angle,the sail’s distance from the sun (and thus the sail emperature) and the surface roughness of the sail material [1]. In this paper, the refined SRP force model is compared to the previous ones in order to identify the potential impact of the new model on the predicted capabilities of solar sails in performing low-cost interplanetary space missions. All force models have been implemented within InTrance, a global low-thrust trajectory optimization software utilizing evolutionary neurocontrol [2]. Two interplanetary rendezvous missions, to Mercury and the near-Earth asteroid 1996FG3, are investigated. Two solar sail performances in terms of characteristic acceleration are examined for both scenarios, 0.2 mm/s2 and 0.5 mm/s2, termed “low” and “medium” sail performance. In case of the refined SRP model, three different values of surface roughness are chosen, h = 0 nm, 10 nm and 25 nm. The results show that the refined SRP force model yields shorter transfer times than the standard model.
Y1  - 2010
N1  - 2nd International Symposium on Solar Sailing, ISSS 2010, 2010-07-20 - 2010-07-22. New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York, USA
SP  - 1
EP  - 6
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Kahle, Ralph
A1  - Wie, Bong
T1  - Head-on impact deflection of NEAs: a case study for 99942 Apophis
T2  - Planetary Defense Conference 2007
N2  - Near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 99942 Apophis provides a typical example for the evolution of asteroid orbits that lead to Earth-impacts after a close Earth-encounter that results in a resonant return. Apophis will have a close Earth-encounter in 2029 with potential very close subsequent Earth-encounters (or even an impact) in 2036 or later, depending on whether it passes through one of several less than 1 km-sized gravitational keyholes during its 2029-encounter. A pre-2029 kinetic impact is a very favorable option to nudge the asteroid out of a keyhole. The highest impact velocity and thus deflection can be achieved from a trajectory that is retrograde to Apophis orbit. With a chemical or electric propulsion system, however, many gravity assists and thus a long time is required to achieve this. We show in this paper that the solar sail might be the better propulsion system for such a mission: a solar sail Kinetic Energy Impactor (KEI) spacecraft could impact Apophis from a retrograde trajectory with a very high relative velocity (75-80 km/s) during one of its perihelion passages. The spacecraft consists of a 160 m × 160 m, 168 kg solar sail assembly and a 150 kg impactor. Although conventional spacecraft can also achieve the required minimum deflection of 1 km for this approx. 320 m-sized object from a prograde trajectory, our solar sail KEI concept also allows the deflection of larger objects. For a launch in 2020, we also show that, even after Apophis has flown through one of the gravitational keyholes in 2029, the solar sail KEI concept is still feasible to prevent Apophis from impacting the Earth, but many KEIs would be required for consecutive impacts to increase the total Earth-miss distance to a safe value
Y1  - 2007
N1  - Planetary Defense Conference 2007, Wahington D.C., USA, 05-08 March 2007
SP  - 1
EP  - 12
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Grundmann, Jan Thimo
A1  - Boden, Ralf
A1  - Ceriotti, Matteo
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Dumont, Etienne
A1  - Grimm, Christian D.
A1  - Lange, Caroline
A1  - Lichtenheldt, Roy
A1  - Pelivan, Ivanka
A1  - Peloni, Alessandro
A1  - Riemann, Johannes
A1  - Spröwitz, Tom
A1  - Tardivel, Simon
T1  - Soil to sail-asteroid landers on near-term sailcraft as an evolution of the GOSSAMER small spacecraft solar sail concept for in-situ characterization
T2  - 5th IAA Planetary Defense Conference
KW  - multiple NEA rendezvous
KW  - solar sail
KW  - GOSSAMER-1
KW  - MASCOT
KW  - asteroid sample return
Y1  - 2017
N1  - 5th IAA Planetary Defense Conference – PDC 2017
15-19 May 2017, Tokyo, Japan
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
T1  - Solar sail dynamics and control
T2  - Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering
N2  - Solar sails are large and lightweight reflective structures that are propelled by solar radiation pressure. This chapter covers their orbital and attitude dynamics and control. First, the advantages and limitations of solar sails are discussed and their history and development status is outlined. Because the dynamics of solar sails is governed by the (thermo-)optical properties of the sail film, the basic solar radiation pressure force models have to be described and compared before parameters to measure solar sail performance can be defined. The next part covers the orbital dynamics of solar sails for heliocentric motion, planetocentric motion, and motion at Lagrangian equilibrium points. Afterwards, some advanced solar radiation pressure force models are described, which allow to quantify the thrust force on solar sails of arbitrary shape, the effects of temperature, of light incidence angle, of surface roughness, and the effects of optical degradation of the sail film in the space environment. The orbital motion of a solar sail is strongly coupled to its rotational motion, so that the attitude control of these soft and flexible structures is very challenging, especially for planetocentric orbits that require fast attitude maneuvers. Finally, some potential attitude control methods are sketched and selection criteria are given.
KW  - solar sail
KW  - sailcraft
KW  - orbital dynamics
KW  - orbit control
KW  - attitude dynamics
Y1  - 2010
U6  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470686652.eae292
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
T1  - Solar sails for near-term advanced scientific deep space missions
T2  - Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Combustion and Propulsion
N2  - Solar sails are propelled in space by reflecting solar photons off large mirroring surfaces, thereby transforming the momentum of the photons into a propulsive force. This innovative concept for low-thrust space propulsion works without any propellant and thus provides a wide range of opportunities for highenergy low-cost missions. Offering an efficient way of propulsion, solar sailcraft could close a gap in transportation options for highly demanding exploration missions within our solar system and even beyond. On December 17th, 1999, a significant step was made towards the realization of this technology: a lightweight solar sail structure with an area of 20 m × 20 m was successfully deployed on ground in a large facility at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) at Cologne. The deployment from a package of 60 cm × 60 cm × 65 cm with a total mass of less than 35 kg was achieved using four extremely light-weight carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) booms with a specific mass of 100 g/m. The paper briefly reviews the basic principles of solar sails as well as the technical concept and its realization in the ground demonstration experiment, performed in close cooperation between DLR and ESA. Next possible steps are outlined. They could comprise the in-orbit demonstration of the sail deployment on the upper stage of a low-cost rocket and the verification of the propulsion concept by an autonomous and free flying solar sail in the frame of a scientific mission. It is expected that the present design could be extended to sail sizes of about (40 m)2  up to even (70 m)2 without significant mass penalty. With these areas, the maximum achievable thrust at 1 AU would range between 10 and 40 mN – comparable to some electric thrusters. Such prototype sails with a mass between 50 and 150 kg plus a micro-spacecraft of 50 to 250 kg would have a maximum acceleration in the order of 0.1 mm/s2 at 1 AU, corresponding to a maximum ∆V-capability of about 3 km/s per year. Two near/medium-term mission examples to a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) will be discussed: a rendezvous mission
and a sample return mission.
KW  - solar sail
KW  - low-thrust
KW  - near-Earth asteroid
KW  - sample return
KW  - solar system
Y1  - 2003
N1  - Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Combustion and Propulsion. Pozzuoli, Italy, 16 - 21 June 2002.
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
A1  - Häusler, Bernd
T1  - Performance requirements for near-term interplanetary solar sailcraft missions
T2  - 6th International AAAF Symposium on Space Propulsion: Propulsion for Space Transportation of the XXIst Century
N2  - Solar sailcraft provide a wide range of opportunities for high-energy low-cost missions. To date, most mission studies require a rather demanding performance that will not be realized by solar sailcraft of the first generation.
However, even with solar sailcraft of moderate performance, scientifically relevant missions are feasible. This is demonstrated with a Near Earth Asteroid sample return mission and various planetary rendezvous missions.
Y1  - 2002
N1  - 6th International AAAF Symposium on Space Propulsion: Propulsion for Space Transportation of the XXIst Century, Versailles, France, 14-16 May 2002
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Schartner, Karl-Heinz
A1  - Loeb, H. W.
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Ohndorf, Andreas
T1  - Perspectives of electric propulsion for outer planetary and deep space missions
T2  - European Planetary Science Congress 2009
N2  - Solar-electric propulsion (SEP) is superior with
respect to payload capacity, flight time and
flexible launch window to the conventional
interplanetary transfer method using chemical
propulsion combined with gravity assists. This fact
results from the large exhaust velocities of electric
low–thrust propulsion and is favourable also for
missions to the giant planets, Kuiper-belt objects
and even for a heliopause probe (IHP) as shown in
three studies by the authors funded by DLR. They
dealt with a lander for Europa and a sample return
mission from a mainbelt asteroid [1], with the
TANDEM mission [2]; the third recent one
investigates electric propulsion for the transfer to
the edge of the solar system.
All studies are based on triple-junction solar arrays,
on rf-ion thrusters of the qualified RIT-22 type and
they use the intelligent trajectory optimization
program InTrance [3].
Y1  - 2009
N1  - European Planetary Science Congress 2009, 13-18 September, Potsdam, Germany
SP  - 416
EP  - 416
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Spurmann, Jörn
A1  - Ohndorf, Andreas
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
A1  - Löb, Horst
A1  - Schartner, Karl-Heinz
T1  - Interplanetary trajectory optimization for a sep mission to Saturn
T2  - 60th International Astronautical Congress 2009
N2  - The recently proposed NASA and ESA missions to Saturn and Jupiter pose difficult tasks to mission designers because chemical propulsion scenarios are not capable of transferring heavy spacecraft into the outer solar system without the use of gravity assists. Thus our developed mission scenario based on the joint NASA/ESA Titan Saturn System Mission baselines solar electric propulsion to improve mission flexibility and transfer time. For the calculation of near-globally optimal low-thrust trajectories, we have used a method called Evolutionary Neurocontrol, which is implemented in the low-thrust trajectory optimization software InTrance. The studied solar electric propulsion scenario covers trajectory optimization of the interplanetary transfer including variations of the spacecraft's thrust level, the thrust unit's specific impulse and the solar power generator power level. Additionally developed software extensions enabled trajectory optimization with launcher-provided hyperbolic excess energy, a complex solar power generator model and a variable specific impulse ion engine model. For the investigated mission scenario, Evolutionary Neurocontrol yields good optimization results, which also hold valid for the more elaborate spacecraft models. Compared to Cassini/Huygens, the best found solutions have faster transfer times and a higher mission flexibility in general.
KW  - Spacecraft
KW  - Reusable Rocket Engines
KW  - Hybrid Propellants
Y1  - 2009
SN  - 9781615679089
N1  - 60th International Astronautical Congress 2009 (IAC 2009)
Held 12-16 October 2009, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
SP  - 5234
EP  - 5248
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Loeb, Horst Wolfgang
A1  - Schartner, Karl-Heinz
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
T1  - SEP-Sample return from a main belt asteroid
T2  - 30th International Electric Propulsion Conference
N2  - 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.
Y1  - 2007
SP  - 1
EP  - 11
ER  -