Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Dissertations & Theses
Published April 11, 2015 | Version v1
Thesis Open

Delta-v to Near-earth Asteroids: An Examination of the Shoemaker-helin Equations

Creators

  • 1. Harvard University

Contributors

  • 1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Description

Near-Earth asteroids present promising opportunities for future human spaceflight missions. Many of these objects have orbits that come within close proximity to the Earth, allowing a significantly lower cost in comparison to missions to Mars or even the Moon. This cost is directly related to the change in velocity (Delta-V) necessary to move a vehicle from low-Earth orbit to the orbit of a near-Earth asteroid.

This paper will discuss the merits of asteroid rendezvous missions in the near future and assess the validity of Delta-V approximations for ~1200 known asteroids candidates. A 1979 paper by Shoemaker and Helin suggested a class-specific set of equations for approximating the Delta-V for these objects. Modern numerical calculations provide accurate measurements for these values and will serve as a test to the strength of the Shoemaker-Helin equations.

Notes

Astro 99

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