Low cost transfer into useful sun-synchronous orbits at Mars

Mars oblateness has been found to provide sun-synchronous orbits, including orbits with stationary apsides, similar to those used at earth. A low mass and low data rate complement of scientific instruments placed in such orbits can provide exciting planetary investigations such as the Mars Orbiter Water Mission described herein. Use of a modest Shuttle kickstage (PAM-A) and existing spacecraft hardware makes this mission low-cost. A preliminary mission and spacecraft design is described. The major emphasis of the paper is on the mechanics of heliocentric transfer for the 1986 and 1988 launch opportunities, Martian sun-synchronous orbit geometries, injectable mass capabilities, and methods of achieving these scientifically useful orbits.