Missions for Asteroid Insertion into Earth-Mars Cycler

This paper analyzes the feasibility of insertion of a 1000-metric ton asteroid into an Earth-Mars cycler. An electric propulsion space tug comparable to the one selected for the now-canceled Asteroid Robotic Redirect Mission is considered. An indirect optimization method is used to compute the low-thrust trajectories. Resonant and non-resonant trajectories that allow for multiple Earth encounters are explored to define the trajectory structure in order to limit the propellant consumption to feasible values. Two examples for the insertion of asteroid 2010 UY7 into Earth-Mars S1L1 cyclers are presented.