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Magellan aerobrake navigationThe Magellan spacecraft has been aerobraked into a 197 x 541 km near-circular orbit around Venus from which it is conducting a high-resolution gravity mapping mission. This was the first interplanetary aerobrake maneuver and involved flying the spacecraft through the upper reaches of the Venusian atmosphere 730 times over a 70 day period. Round-trip light-time varied from 9.57 to 18.83 minutes during this period. Navigation for this dynamic phase of the Magellan mission was planned and executed in the face of budget-driven down-sizing with all spacecraft safe modes disabled and a flight-team one-third the size of comparable interplanetary missions. Successful execution of this manuever using spacecraft hardware not designed to operate in a planetary atmosphere, demonstrated a practical cost-saving technique for both large and small future interplanetary missions.
Document ID
19950047934
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Giorgini, Jon
(Jet Propulsion Lab. Cal. Inst. of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States)
Wong, S. Kuen
(Jet Propulsion Lab. Cal. Inst. of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States)
You, Tung-Han
(Jet Propulsion Lab. Cal. Inst. of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States)
Chadbourne, Pam
(Jet Propulsion Lab. Cal. Inst. of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States)
Lim, Lily
(Jet Propulsion Lab. Cal. Inst. of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1995
Publication Information
Publication: British Interplanetary Society, Journal
Volume: 48
Issue: 3
ISSN: 0007-094X
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Accession Number
95A79533
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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