Design and analysis of landing and low-altitude asteroid flyovers

This paper will discusses the dynamics, analysis, and design of low-attitude flyovers and landing trajectories at asteroids, The theory presented in the paper will be applicable to asteroids missions in general. The paper will begin with a brief review of orbital dynamics in close proximity to asteroids or other irregularly shaped bodies, covering the special considerations that must be taken into account for this class of problem Then, the specific types of trajectories to be considered will be introduced, along with the basic computations that must be performed to support and generate these trajectories. These trajectories will be limited to two classes, ones that have periapsis "close" to the central body, close being defined as near or within the circumscribing sphere about the asteroid. And those that intersect with the asteroid surface. Such landing trajectories usually have several maneuvers during descent to the surface in order to minimize impact speeds. An analysis of a low-altitude flyover trajectory is made that includes analytical results that can be inferred from the dynamical theories, and Monte Carlo analyses that explore the non-linear dynamics over finite regions of phase space.