Mission design for LISA Pathfinder
Abstract
Here we describe the mission design for SMART-2/LISA Pathfinder. The best trade-off between the requirements of a low-disturbance environment and communications distance is found to be a free-insertion Lissajous orbit around the first collinear Lagrange point of the Sun Earth system (L1), 1.5 × 106 km from Earth. In order to transfer SMART-2/LISA Pathfinder from a low Earth orbit, where it will be placed by a small launcher, the spacecraft carries out a number of apogee-raise manoeuvres, which ultimatively place it to a parabolic escape trajectory towards L1. The challenges of the design of a small mission are met, fulfilling the very demanding technology demonstration requirements without creating excessive requirements on the launch system or the ground segment.
- Publication:
-
Classical and Quantum Gravity
- Pub Date:
- May 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1088/0264-9381/22/10/048
- arXiv:
- arXiv:gr-qc/0411071
- Bibcode:
- 2005CQGra..22S.487L
- Keywords:
-
- General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
- E-Print:
- 7 pages, 6 figures, 5th International LISA Symposium, see http://www.landisoft.de/Markus-Landgraf