TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heiligers, Jeannette
A1  - Schoutetens, Frederic
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
T1  - Photon-sail equilibria in the alpha centauri system
JF  - Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://dx.doi.org/10.2514/1.G005446
SN  - 1533-3884
SN  - 0731-5090
SN  - 0162-3192
VL  - 44
IS  - 5
SP  - 1053
EP  - 1061
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - McInnes, Colin R.
A1  - Bothmer, Volker
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Geppert, Ulrich R. M. E.
A1  - Heiligers, Jeannette
A1  - Hilgers, Alan
A1  - Johnson, Les
A1  - Macdonald, Malcolm
A1  - Reinhard, Ruedeger
A1  - Seboldt, Wolfgang
A1  - Spietz, Peter
T1  - Gossamer roadmap technology reference study for a Sub-L1 Space Weather Mission
T2  - Advances in solar sailing
N2  - A technology reference study for a displaced Lagrange point space weather mission is presented. The mission builds on previous concepts, but adopts a strong micro-spacecraft philosophy to deliver a low mass platform and payload which can be accommodated on the DLR/ESA Gossamer-3 technology demonstration mission. A direct escape from Geostationary Transfer Orbit is assumed with the sail deployed after the escape burn. The use of a miniaturized, low mass platform and payload then allows the Gossamer-3 solar sail to potentially double the warning time of space weather events. The mission profile and mass budgets will be presented to achieve these ambitious goals.
Y1  - 2014
SN  - 978-3-642-34906-5 (Print) ; 978-3-642-34907-2 (E-Book)
SP  - 227
EP  - 242
PB  - Springer
CY  - Berlin [u.a.]
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Schoutetens, Frederic
A1  - Dachwald, Bernd
A1  - Heiligers, Jeannette
T1  - Optimisation of photon-sail trajectories in the alpha-centauri system using evolutionary neurocontrol
T2  - 8th ICATT (International Conference on Astrodynamics Tools and Techniques) 23 - 25 June 2021, Virtual
N2  - With the increased interest for interstellar exploration after the discovery of exoplanets and the proposal by Breakthrough Starshot, this paper investigates the optimisation of photon-sail trajectories in Alpha Centauri. The prime objective is to find the optimal steering strategy for a photonic sail to get captured around one of the stars after a minimum-time transfer from Earth. By extending the idea of the Breakthrough Starshot project with a deceleration phase upon arrival, the mission’s scientific yield will be increased. As a secondary objective, transfer trajectories between the stars and orbit-raising manoeuvres to explore the habitable zones of the stars are investigated. All trajectories are optimised for minimum time of flight using the trajectory optimisation software InTrance. Depending on the sail technology, interstellar travel times of 77.6-18,790 years can be achieved, which presents an average improvement of 30% with respect to previous work. Still, significant technological development is required to reach and be captured in the Alpha-Centauri system in less than a century. Therefore, a fly-through mission arguably remains the only option for a first exploratory mission to Alpha Centauri, but the enticing results obtained in this work provide perspective for future long-residence missions to our closest neighbouring star system.
Y1  - 2021
N1  - 8th ICATT (International Conference on Astrodynamics Tools and Techniques)
23 - 25 June 2021, Virtual
SP  - 1
EP  - 15
ER  -