The use of Design of experiments to calculate the influence of planet oblateness in the temporary gravitational capture

• Published in: Journal of physics. Conference series 2019-10, Vol.1365 (1), p.12012
• Main Authors: Siqueli, Guilherme A., Antônio, F. B. A. Prado, Solórzano, Carlos R. H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Celestial mechanics; Design of experiments; Maneuvers; Physics; Propulsion systems; Spacecraft; Three body problem
• ISSN: 1742-6588; 1742-6596
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/1365/1/012012

This paper presents the study of the influence of the oblateness of one planet in the temporary gravitational capture of a particle (or a spacecraft) around the main celestial body of the system. The gravitational capture is a physical phenomenon where a celestial body (or a spacecraft), initially in a hyperbolic orbit with positive energy with respect to the main body of the system, is captured by another celestial body, changing the energy of the orbit to negative during a determined time. In this way, we have a temporary capture of this body or spacecraft. In the case of a spacecraft, it is possible to make this capture permanent by the application of a propulsion system to the spacecraft. This technique is done with savings over the traditional maneuvers performed without the support of the temporary capture, so it can help mission designers in the planning of the mission. As an example, the system used in the present paper is composed by the Sun-Jupiter-particle, and this system is modeled by the circular restricted three-body problem (CR3BP) plus the oblateness of Jupiter. To determine the effects of the oblateness in the dynamics of the particle, it is used the design of experiments to generate the data for a global analysis of the model. The oblateness of the planet is varied to show the effects of this parameter.