Feasibility and Performance Analysis of Neptune Aerocapture Using Heritage Blunt-Body Aeroshells

What is it about?

Aerocapture is a technology which allows spacecraft to use atmospheric drag to slow down and get inserted into orbit around planets. For missions to Neptune, aerocapture has been shown to substantially increase delivered mass and decrease travel times. However due to the large uncertainties involved (for example, the atmospheric density profile) a vehicle with sufficient aerodynamic control authority is required to ensure reliable aerocapture performance. Until now, this was believed to be beyond the capability of flown or existing existing entry vehicles (such as Apollo, Orion etc). The present study shows that a different class of interplanetary trajectories, coupled with improvements in navigation and guidance enables existing entry vehicles to perform aerocapture at Neptune.

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