DESIGN OF HYPERSONIC WAVE-RIDERS FOR AEROASSISTED INTERPLANETARY TRAJECTORIES

The aerodynamic performance of a vehicle designed to execute an aerogravity-assisted maneuver, which combines a gravitational turn with a low-drag atmosphere pass, is examined. The advantage of the aerogravity-assisted maneuver, as opposed to a more traditional gravity-assist trajectory, is that, through the use of a controlled atmospheric flight, nearly any deflection angle around a gravitating body can be realized. This holds the promise of providing extremely large values of DELTAV. The success of such a maneuver depends on being able to design a vehicle which can execute sustained atmospheric lifting night at Mach numbers in the range of 50-100 with minimal drag losses, thereby implying the use of hypersonic waveriders designed for high L/D. Some simple modeling is used to demonstrate design rules for the design of such vehicles and to estimate the deterioration of their performance during the night. Two sample aerogravity-assisted maneuvers are detailed, including a close solar approach requiring modest DELTAV and a sprint mission to Pluto.