Analysis of attitude and orbit for a mission to a triple asteroid

Abstract

Asteroids are celestial bodies of interest of the scientific community because they may possess fundamental data about how the Solar System was created. In addition, its mineral composition is interesting for the mining of rare and precious materials that are rarely found on Earth. Furthermore, asteroids, especially those close to Earth, can become an important threat to life on our planet. Therefore, space agencies around the world are planning to launch space missions to study these celestial bodies. In relation to Brazil, the ASTER mission has been planned with the objective of sending a small spacecraft to explore the triple asteroid NEA 2001 SN263. In addition to reaching the asteroid, the ASTER mission can leverage the Brazilian space program for its involvement in the development and operation of the platform. To this end, in this project, we intend to perform the analysis of the orbit dynamics and attitude of the spacecraft. It will be a first approach to the development of the attitude and orbit control system of the space probe. A comprehensive attitude and orbit analysis and control systems used in previous asteroid exploration missions should be performed for the first time in Brazil. Then the possible effects of perturbing forces on the orbit and attitude of the ASTER mission will be analyzed. Finally, a mathematical model will be developed for attitude and orbit control of the ASTER mission spacecraft. (AU)