Flyby
Payton M -
Hello! Welcome to one of my last blog posts for this project! This project has flown by, and I can’t believe it’s nearing the end of our journey. We have finally completed each part of the code that we started back in August, finishing off with the flyby maneuver!
The flyby is also known as a gravity assist in which a spacecraft can speed up or slow down with no fuel expenditure, using a planet’s gravity. Before we looked into the flyby, we had completed two options: Hohmann Transfer to Mars or Jupiter. This requires the spacecraft to insert into an orbit around one of these planets and then depart to Eris from there. We decided to analyze the flyby trajectory option because it eliminates the thrust burn for the capture orbit insertion and then the second Hohmann Transfer departure to Eris following that. The image below provides a visual representation of the difference between a flyby and capture orbit maneuver.
Our hypothesis was correct! The flyby maneuver past Jupiter requires the least amount of fuel out of all of the other options explored! In addition to completing the code this past week, I have also finished the research poster (one of my final products). It’s been a very fun and rewarding experience compiling all of the results into the tabled, plots, and flowcharts to share with you all during my presentation! I hope you come back once more for my last blog post next week!