NASA NTRS · 20240005579
Aerocapture Enabling Flagship-Class Uranus Orbiter and Probe
Abstract
Exploration of the Ice Giants, especially Uranus, via orbiter and atmospheric probes, is required to answer pressing science questions that have been raised in the latest Decadal Survey. As the Ice Giants are the farthest planets from Earth, traditional fully-propulsive orbit insertion missions have transit times to the planetary bodies nearing 13-15 years and require a large amount of propellant (wet mass percentages of around 60-70%) for the orbit insertion maneuver, leaving less mass for the scientific payload and a planetary probe.
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Soumyo Dutta, R Deshmukh, E Shellabarger, J B Scoggins, A John Gomez-delrio, R Lugo, J Morgan, D Matz, B Johnson, S Sandoval, J Geiser, R Restrepo, D Mages, P S Chadalavada, J Williams, J Garland. Aerocapture Enabling Flagship-Class Uranus Orbiter and Probe. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20240005579
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