Mission aspects of GRASP ESA's prospective gamma-ray astronomy satellite

✍ Scribed by C. Winkler; G. Tomaschek; G. F. Bignami; G. Villa; A. J. Dean; D. Ramsden; Ph. Durouchoux; K. Hurley; G. Vedrenne; N. Lund; B. McBreen; V. Schönfelder; B. N. Swanenburg

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 233 KB
• Volume: 49
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0038-6308
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00173752

✦ Synopsis

Mission aspects of the project GRASP (Gamma-Ray Astronomy with Spectroscopy and Positioning) are described as documented in the ESA assessment study at the end of 1986. The goals of this study addressed scientific objectives, technical solutions and feasibility of the mission. Two accommodation studies accompanied the assessment study. Their results show that GRASP can be accommodated on two existing space platforms, EURECA-B and ROBUS, respectively.

1. Overview and Background

The investigation of mission aspects of the GRASP assessment study, i.e., analysis, definition, trade-off and selection of spacecraft and orbit were determined by optimisation of scientific output in connection with realistic and, last but not least, cost-effective missions. For these reasons, the assessment study was accompanied by two industrial studies with the aim to accommodate GRASP onto different space platforms, EURECA-B and ROBUS.