FROZEN ORBITS AROUND EUROPA

Author(s)

Carvalho, J. P. S. ^{[1, 2]} ; Mourao, D. C. ^[1] ; Elipe, A. ^{[3, 4]} ; De Moraes, R. Vilhena ^{[1, 2]} ; Prado, A. F. B. A. ^[5]

Affiliation

^[1] UNESP Univ Estadual Paulista, BR-12516410 Guaratingueta, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, UNIFESP Inst Ciencia & Tecnol, BR-12331280 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Zaragoza, Ctr Univ Def, E-50009 Zaragoza - Spain

^[4] Univ Zaragoza, GME IUMA, E-50009 Zaragoza - Spain

^[5] INPE, Div Space Mech & Control, BR-12227010 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIFURCATION AND CHAOS; v. 22, n. 10 OCT 2012.
• Web of Science Citations: 8

Abstract

Low-altitude, near-polar orbits are very desirable for scientific missions to study the natural satellites of the planets of the Solar System, such as Europa, that is one of the natural satellites of Jupiter. The problem is analyzed considering that an artificial satellite is orbiting Europa and that this spacecraft is perturbed by the nonuniform distribution of mass of the planetary satellite (J(2), J(3), C-22) and by the gravitational attraction of the third-body. We present an analytical theory using the averaged model and applications were done by performing numerical integrations of the analytical equations developed. Using the averaged method, several frozen orbits were obtained. Some of them has low inclination, low altitude and long lifetime. Numerical simulations are performed using the software Mercury, to compare the results obtained using the analytical theory. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/05671-5 - STABILITY ANALYSIS FOR PLANETARY SATELLITES ORBITS
• Grantee: Jean Paulo dos Santos Carvalho
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 11/09310-7 - Orbital study of the motion of spacecrafts
• Grantee: Antônio Fernando Bertachini de Almeida Prado
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants