Effects of the rotation of a spacecraft in an atmospheric close approach with the Earth

Abstract

A maneuver called “Aerogravity Assisted” is known in the literature to increase the energy gains given by a close approach between a spacecraft and a planet using the atmosphere of the planet. Several previous papers showed the importance of this topic in different aspects. The present paper has the goal of studying the effects of the spacecraft rotation in this maneuver. This rotation implies in a variable ballistic coefficient and this fact can change the results of the maneuver. Several masses, sizes and angular velocities will be tested and the effects of these parameters will be measured. The dynamical model considers the atmosphere of the Earth, in terms of drag, the gravitational fields of the Earth and the Sun, assumed to be points of mass, and the rotating spacecraft. The Earth and the Sun are assumed to be in circular coplanar orbits around their common center of mass. The equations of motion are the ones given by the circular planar restricted three-body problem with the addition of the forces generated by the atmospheric drag. The primary objective is to map the energy variations of the spacecraft orbits due to this close approach as a function of the spacecraft angular velocity. This rotation can be used as control of the maneuver to try to reach different goals.