Solar-Sail Orbital Motion About Asteroids and Binary Asteroid Systems

Abstract

Solar radiation pressure is a major orbital perturbation for missions to small bodies like asteroids and binary asteroid systems. This Paper studies the utilization of solar radiation pressure on a solar sail for asteroid mission applications, specifically to generate artificial equilibrium points and displaced periodic orbits in these systems. For the single-asteroid case, contours of artificial equilibrium points for constant sail acceleration magnitudes are found in the Hill + solar radiation pressure problem as well as periodic orbits around these artificial equilibrium points. The binary system is modeled by first adding a fourth-body perturbation to the Hill + solar radiation pressure dynamics, demonstrating the effect of the smaller asteroid as an oscillatory motion superimposed on the unperturbed orbit. Truly periodic orbits are obtained in the bicircular + solar radiation pressure problem, showing the existence of so-called pole-sitter-like orbits above the binary system’s orbital plane. Higher-fidelity dynamical effects are investigated for these pole-sitter-like orbits for binary system 1999 KW4, showing feasibility of the orbits around aphelion. All results are generated for near-term sail technology and for a simple, fixed sail attitude relative to the sun. They therefore enable operable and unique vantage points from where to monitor the asteroid(s) over extended periods of time.