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Analysis of the natural orbits around Io

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Abstract

The natural satellite of Jupiter, Io, is one of the most interesting bodies in the solar system and deserves to be studied in detail. Up to now, no man-made vehicle has orbited Io because the level of radiation is too high for an orbiter to stay nearby for longer periods of time. In that sense, only flyby missions have studied this body. With the advance of technology, an important step in Solar System research is to develop shields that are strong enough to make orbiter missions around Io possible in the near future. With that in mind, the present paper has the goal, as first step, of mapping possible stable orbits around Io that can accommodate a spacecraft and that do not require station-keeping maneuvers to survive. The dynamical system considers the gravity fields of the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and the non-spherical shape of Jupiter and Io. To help in this search and to better explain the reasons of stability, integral indices are used to map the less perturbed orbits to guide the numerical searches for stable orbits. We observe several regions of bounded orbits around Io. In these orbits, a relation between the perturbation indices and the duration of stability is found, demonstrating the importance of this tool in mission analyses. Several regions of bounded orbits are found in this system.

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The data underlying this paper will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Notes

  1. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. The authors wish to express their appreciation for the support provided by Grant 309089/2021-2 from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Grants 2016/24561-0, 2021/11982-5, 2021/08274-9, and 2022/08716-4 from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). This publication has been supported by the RUDN University Scientific Projects Grant System, Project No 202235-2-000.

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Author notes

  1. S. Aljbaae, A. F. B. A. Prado, A. C. Signor, M. H. M. Morais and D. M. Sanchez have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INPE, Av. dos Astronautas, 1.758 - Jardim da Granja, São José dos Campos, SP, 12227-010, Brazil

    G. A. Caritá, S. Aljbaae & A. F. B. A. Prado

  2. Academy of Engineering, RUDN University, Miklukho-Maklaya Street 6, Moscow, Russia, 117198

    A. F. B. A. Prado

  3. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas, Av. 24-A, 500 1515, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil

    G. A. Caritá, A. C. Signor & M. H. M. Morais

  4. School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, The University of Oklahoma, 865 Asp Ave., Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    D. M. Sanchez

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Contributions

GC, SA, and AP contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by GC, SA, and AS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by GC, SA and AP. HM, DS, and AS have commented on previous versions of the manuscript helping with data analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to G. A. Caritá.

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Caritá, G.A., Aljbaae, S., Prado, A.F.B.A. et al. Analysis of the natural orbits around Io. Celest Mech Dyn Astron 135, 46 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-023-10160-5

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