Trajectory Design of the Lucy Mission to Explore the Diversity of the Jupiter Trojans

[摘要] Lucy, NASA’s next Discovery-class mission, will explore the diversity of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. The Jupiter Trojans are thought to be remnants of the early solar system that were scattered inward when the gas giants migrated to their current positions as described in the Nice model. There are two stable subpopulations, or “swarms,” captured at the Sun-Jupiter L4 and L5 regions. These objects are the most accessible samples of what the outer solar system may have originally looked like. Lucy will launch in 2021 and will visit five Trojans, including one binary system. This paper discusses the target selection process, including a description of “alternate Lucys” that were ultimately passed over in favor of the final design. The mathematics of the trajectory optimization are also discussed.

[发布日期] 2019-10-21

[学科分类] 天文学(综合)

[关键词] TROJAN ASTEROIDS;TRAJECTORIES;LAUNCHING;SOLAR SYSTEM;GAS GIANT PLANETS;SUN;TRAJECTORY OPTIMIZATION;JUPITER (PLANET)