Lunar and Interplanetary Trajectories by Robin Biesbroek

Author:Robin Biesbroek
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

The pericenter altitude is normally a value chosen by the design team and often matches the altitude of the operational orbit around the planet, or the operational orbit pericenter. So by choosing the pericenter altitude, the radius where the spacecraft crosses the B-plane is immediately set as there is a clear relation between pericenter altitude and B-plane target point radius. The lower the B-plane target point radius, the lower the pericenter altitude. We can now select any point on the circle with the chosen B-plane target point radius, which will define where the pericenter will be located (North, East, South, West or in-between). Figure 6.3 shows how the trajectories of the four B-plane target points 5000 km away from the origin, looks if the spacecraft flies by the Moon. The trajectory arriving South will bend towards the North; the trajectory arriving East will bend towards the West, and vice versa. In case we are performing a gravity assist maneuver, the trajectory following the gravity assist has a predetermined direction (after all, it needs to reach the next planet). Since this direction is completely depending on the chosen B-plane coordinate, the gravity assist maneuver determines exactly what values the B-plane coordinates should have.

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