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Space Mission Assignment Overview

This document outlines an assignment for an aerospace engineering course. Students are assigned specific space missions and must complete 7 tasks related to the mission, including gathering mission details, determining orbital parameters, designing a nominal launch trajectory, identifying key mission events, calculating necessary burns, and creating an end-to-end simulation. The assignment is due on April 16th at midnight and students should contact TAs or instructors with any issues. Reasonable assumptions can be made but must be technically justified.

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Prince Sharma
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61 views1 page

Space Mission Assignment Overview

This document outlines an assignment for an aerospace engineering course. Students are assigned specific space missions and must complete 7 tasks related to the mission, including gathering mission details, determining orbital parameters, designing a nominal launch trajectory, identifying key mission events, calculating necessary burns, and creating an end-to-end simulation. The assignment is due on April 16th at midnight and students should contact TAs or instructors with any issues. Reasonable assumptions can be made but must be technically justified.

Uploaded by

Prince Sharma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

AE 240/713 Assignment Problem Statement Weightage: 15% (10% + 5%)

Submission Deadline: Tuesday 16th April 2019 Time: Midnight

Please refer to the problem allocation table uploaded on moodle which contains the space mission allotted to
you for this assignment. You are encouraged to search for relevant parameters for the mission allocated to you
and make reasonable assumptions wherever required. However, the assumptions must be supported through
technical justifications. In case of difficulties contact TAs or the course instructor only.

For your particular mission, do the following:


1. Gather information regarding the space mission objectives, orbital / trajectory parameters, launch
vehicle and launch site used for the mission and any other significant data of the mission. Describe the
overall mission and its status, including successes and failures for completed / ongoing missions.
2. Next, determine the nature of the orbit / trajectory of the spacecraft, in terms of the applicable orbital
parameters (i.e. semi-major axis, eccentricity, time of perigee passage, mean anomaly at injection, right
ascension of the ascending node, inclination, argument of the perigee, departure velocity, arrival orbit /
trajectory, capture/flyby, landing/reentry etc.). Also, give orbital time period, apoapsis & periapsis.
3. Determine how the nature of the orbit/trajectory is connected with the objectives of the mission. Also,
obtain the initial conditions and / or orbital manoeuvres that would be required at the time of injection /
after injection, to achieve the above orbit / trajectory.
4. Next, design a nominal trajectory of the launch vehicle, based on the launch vehicle configuration
parameters, to achieve the required terminal conditions. (As this is not the real trajectory, which is also
not known to you, you may suitably make use of lift-off, gravity turn and upper atmosphere
manoeuvres, to achieve the nominal terminal parameters.). Kindly be as accurate as possible with regard
to the timing of separation of various stages, as per the launch vehicle data sheet.
5. Find the key events in the trajectory taken by both launch vehicle (e.g. stage separation) and the
spacecraft from its injection by launch vehicle to the end of mission (orbit raising, escape, capture etc.),
including disposal if applicable and report them.
6. Determine all the necessary burn profiles for launch vehicle and manoeuvre components for spacecraft,
starting from the injection point conditions (assumed to be known from the corresponding ascent
mission with which the spacecraft is launched), their sequence and the velocity impulses required at
each stage in attaining the final mission orbit/trajectory, as per the actual mission performed by the
spacecraft. Use nominal injection conditions for the applicable mission, in case there are multiple
terminal conditions possible for a launch vehicle.
7. Lastly, create a complete end-to-end simulation, with animation as applicable, of the mission to give an
account of how the complete mission might have been executed. Submit all information, solutions, plots,
codes, simulation environment etc. and any other relevant information.

Note: As far as possible, all the tasks listed above should be carried out. However, in case some aspects are not
feasible, a detailed justification for the same must be provided.

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