(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2002-06)
Dupont, Agathe
This study is part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored
VISORS (Virtual Super-resolution Optics with Reconfigurable Swarms)
space physics mission project. The goal of the mission is to detect and study
fundamental regions of energy release in the solar corona. The mission
engages a formation of two flying 6U CubeSats. One of the spacecrafts will
support the optical package for observation while the second will contain the
detection instrument.
The simulation of the spacecrafts' trajectory is an essential step in the
development of the mission. This study allows to verify the theoretical
training trajectory and to ensure the reliability of the mission. More
particularly, we verify the behavior of both CubeSats from one relative to the
other and their trajectory in the different possible configurations. We will
also analyze the power generation and the influence of the RAAN parameter.
The last point consists in evaluating the duration of antennas contact between
both spacecrafts. Both configurations considered correspond to the two
possible orbits of the mission: a standby orbit and a science orbit for
observation. Results will allow to obtain a precise analysis of the objectives of
the mission in terms of feasibility and will allow some adjustments of the
parameters studied to date.
This report is based on the work of the Georgia Tech team and the other
participating universities. The work and the code used for this study is based
on a development made by Antoine Paletta for a single CubeSat of the
formation. The results obtained are in line with the continuity of the VISORS
project whose work is becoming more precise for a launch of the mission
planned in 2024