A Gravity Assist Mapping Based on Gaussian Process Regression

We develop a Gravity Assist Mapping to quantify the effects of a flyby in a two-dimensional circular restricted three-body situation based on Gaussian Process Regression (GPR). This work is inspired by the Keplerian Map and Flyby Map. The flyby is allowed to occur anywhere above 300 km altitude at the Earth in the system of Sun-(Earth+Moon)...

A gravity assist mapping for the circular restricted three-body problem using Gaussian processes

Inspired by the Keplerian Map and the Flyby Map, a Gravity Assist Mapping using Gaussian Process Regression for the fully spatial Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem is developed. A mapping function for quantifying the flyby effects over one orbital period is defined. The Gaussian Process Regression model is established by proper mean and...

Laser and radio tracking for planetary science missions—a comparison

At present, tracking data for planetary missions largely consists of radio observables: range-rate (Doppler), range and angular position (VLBI/Δ DOR). Future planetary missions may use Interplanetary Laser Ranging (ILR) as a tracking observable. Two-way ILR will provide range data that are about 2 orders of magnitude more accurate than radio...

1:1 Ground-track resonance in a uniformly rotating 4th degree and order gravitational field

Using a gravitational field truncated at the 4th degree and order, the 1:1 ground-track resonance is studied. To address the main properties of this resonance, a 1-degree of freedom (1-DOF) system is firstly studied. Equilibrium points (EPs), stability and resonance width are obtained. Different from previous studies, the inclusion of non...

Modeling and analysis of periodic orbits around a contact binary asteroid

The existence and characteristics of periodic orbits (POs) in the vicinity of a contact binary asteroid are investigated with an averaged spherical harmonics model. A contact binary asteroid consists of two components connected to each other, resulting in a highly bifurcated shape. Here, it is represented by a combination of an ellipsoid and a...