Ballistic mode Mercury orbiter mission opportunity handbook extension

Interplanetary trajectory characteristics are presented, for Venus swingbys to Mercury, where multiple revolutions about the Sun are permitted. Additional consideration is given to the use of multiple Venus swingbys and/or to midcourse, near perilhelion, propulsive maneuvers to improve the performance of the mission as measured in terms of payload in Mercury orbit. Missions in 1980, 1983, 1985 and 1988 were analyzed with navigation results also developed. An exploratory investigation established the availability of low energy mission opportunities in 1991, 1994, 1996 and 1999.