Aerobraking at venus and mars: a comparison of the magllan and mars global surveyor aerobraking phases

摘要

Two interplanetary spacecraft have been successfully aerobraked from elliptical initial orbits to nearly circular final orbits. The Magellan orbit about Venus was circularized in 1993, late in the extended mission. The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft achieved a circular orbit about Mars in February 1999. The aerobraking phase of the Mars Global Surveyor mission was severely complicated when one of the solar panels was damaged during initial deployment. This paper will discuss some of the similarities and differences between these two aerobraking missions.