The recent NASA initiative to investigate our sun in depth, called "Living with a Star," includes consideration of several possible deep-space missions, one of which is placing a satellite on the far side of the sun. This satellite, together with Earth, can then observe the full evolution of solar phenomena as the sun rotates. Unfortunately, in using a direct approach celestial mechanics does not permit satellite placement to be done efficiently and in a timely manner. Here, the direct approach for satellite placement is shown to be costly compared with the use of Venus gravity assist. This paper investigates specifically the insertion of a far-side sentinel satellite in the year 2009 into the third quadrant (180 to 270 deg ahead of Earth) using single and double Venus gravity assists. Options for other possible missions, including a distributed set of solar observers, are briefly analyzed. References: 4
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