Saturn Escape Options for Cassini Encore Missions

摘要

By escaping the Saturnian system, the Cassini spacecraft can reach other destinations in the solar system whilensatisfying planetary quarantine. The patched-conic method was used to search for trajectories that depart Saturn viangravity assist at Titan. Trajectories were found that fly by Jupiter to reach Uranus or Neptune, capture at Jupiter ornNeptune, escape the solar system, fly by Uranus during its 2049 equinox, or encounter Centaurs. A “grand tour,”nwhich visits Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, departs Saturn in 2014. Alternatively, Cassini could reach Chiron, thenfirst-discovered Centaur, in 10.5 years after a 2022 Saturn departure.