Between the years 2045 and 2050, Scotland will start to send a sample return probe to Vesta. The sample needs to be collected from the south pole of Vesta. The problem will need to rendezvous with Vesta, stay with Vesta for one month to complete the sample collection operations, and then return to Earth. The probe will need to stay at a minimum altitude of 50km from Vesta. The probe has a dry mass at launch of 1000kg and the collected sample is 10kg.

The objectives of this project are:

1. To define the date the probe arrives at Vesta within the period 2045-2050.
2. To define the orbital parameters around Vesta.
3. To assess the total propellant cost to reach Vesta and return a sample after 1 month of operations around Vesta
4. Assuming that the probe remains in orbit around the Earth for 2 weeks on a circular orbit at 24 degrees of inclination and 300 km of altitude assess the longest and shortest eclipse time experienced by the spacecraft.
5. To assess the longest and shortest communication windows experienced by the spacecraft around Vesta assuming the ground base is in Glasgow

Submit your solution in a single ppt presentation with an extended explanation per slide.

The presentation should clearly address the objective listed above and contain at least the following:

• Detailed design of the orbit around Vesta. Define parameters and orbit period.
• All the Dvs to transfer to Vesta, inject the probe into the right orbit, depart from Vesta, being captured around the Earth on an elliptical orbit with inclination of 24 degrees, perigee at 250 km and eccentricity of 0.7.
• Total propellant mass on board to transfer to Vesta and return the sample
• Detailed eclipse analysis
• Detailed communication window analysis
• Definition of the launcher

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

INTRODUCTION The Scottish government has decided to send a sample return probe to Vesta one of the largest asteroids in the solar system The objective of the mission is to collect a sample from the so... View the full answer