Ballistic deployment from quasi-satellite orbits around Phobos under realistic dynamical and surface environment constraints

Abstract

Landing on Phobos and bringing samples from its surface would settle the debate on the origin of the Martian moons and support future manned exploration to Mars. To fulfill these scientific objectives, JAXA is planning to send a sample return probe to Phobos by the first half of the next decade, named the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. In order to explore scientifically interesting regions of Phobos, as well as to support the sampling operations of MMX, a number of Deployable CAMera 5 payloads are proposed to be deployed from quasi-satellite orbits (QSOs) around the Martian moon. This paper explores the feasibility of ballistic deployments from QSOs under realistic dynamical environment and surface constraints in order to guarantee surface settlement within the lifespan of DCAM5. First, we analyze the dynamical environment and escape speeds from Phobos by means of the Circular Hill Problem. Then, the surface coefficient of restitution is estimated by generic impacts onto Phobos regolith via discrete element method simulations. By combining these two analyses, maximum allowable impact velocities for surface settling are calculated and applied to downselect the number of feasible ballistic landings from QSOs. It is found that access to Phobos surface is possible especially along the leading and trailing sides of the Martian moon and in agreement with the engineering requirements of DCAM5.