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Heaton-Longuski 2003 Uranian satellite tour U00-01 (Galileo-style)

heaton-longuski-2003-uranian-tour-u00-01 · source: literature · validation: V0

Signature

Bodies

E-J-U-Titania-Oberon-Ariel-Umbriel

Primary

Sun (default — heliocentric)

Sequence (canonical)

E-J-U-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-O-A-A-T-U-O-A-A-A-O-A-A-A-O-U-U-O-U-T-O-T-U-U-T-T-T-T-U-U-U-A

Sense

n/a

Orbit class

Tour

MGA tour (one-shot terminal arrival)

Cycler class

multi-arc

Returns

1 — finite for epoch-locked classes

Validity window

2008-03-19 → 2021-07-20

Launch epoch

2008-03-19T00:00:00Z

Trajectory regime

ballistic

Maintenance ΔV band

unclassified

Model assumption

analytic-ephemeris

Mid-fidelity: real eccentricity / inclination retained; not full N-body.

Period

not strictly periodic (no published period)

Source ephemeris

STOUR patched-conic (Heaton-Longuski 2003 §Methodology / §Tisserand Graph Analysis)

Ephemeris model the source states its numbers were computed against.

Priority date

2003-01-01

V∞ at encounters

E (encounter 1)

9.80 km/s

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 3 launch (Earth departure V_inf, 3/19/2008).

J (encounter 2)

11.11 km/s

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 3 Jupiter flyby V_inf (9/13/2009).

U (encounter 3)

6.44 km/s

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 3 Uranus arrival V_inf (2/14/2018; arrival inclination 13.6 deg per §Uranian Tour Example p. 594).

Titania (encounter 4)

3.27 km/s

U00-01 event 1: altitude 316 km, θ=-22°, period 52.2 d, periapsis 9.1 R_U, time 0 d (= Table 3 Titania arrival 5/2/2019).

Titania (encounter 5)

3.27 km/s

U00-01 event 2: altitude 74 km, θ=-65°, period 43.5 d, periapsis 8.6 R_U, time 52.2 d.

Titania (encounter 6)

3.27 km/s

U00-01 event 3: altitude 58 km, θ=-54°, period 34.8 d, periapsis 8.1 R_U, time 95.8 d.

Titania (encounter 7)

3.27 km/s

U00-01 event 4: altitude 54 km, θ=-23°, period 26.1 d, periapsis 7.4 R_U, time 130.6 d.

Titania (encounter 8)

3.28 km/s

U00-01 event 5: altitude 90 km, θ=-92°, period 26.1 d, periapsis 7.2 R_U, time 156.7 d.

Titania (encounter 9)

3.28 km/s

U00-01 event 6: altitude 90 km, θ=-92°, period 26.1 d, periapsis 7.0 R_U, time 182.8 d.

Titania (encounter 10)

3.29 km/s

U00-01 event 7: altitude 90 km, θ=-91°, period 26.1 d, periapsis 6.9 R_U, time 208.9 d.

Titania (encounter 11)

3.30 km/s

U00-01 event 8: altitude 90 km, θ=-91°, period 26.1 d, periapsis 6.8 R_U, time 235.1 d.

Titania (encounter 12)

3.30 km/s

U00-01 event 9: altitude 776 km, θ=-103°, period 27.0 d, periapsis 6.9 R_U, time 261.2 d (end of inclination-reduction phase).

Oberon (encounter 13)

2.98 km/s

U00-01 event 10: altitude 414 km, θ=0°, period 23.2 d, periapsis 6.3 R_U, time 287.6 d (begin energy-reduction phase).

Ariel (encounter 14)

3.04 km/s

U00-01 event 11: altitude 378 km, θ=0°, period 20.2 d, periapsis 6.2 R_U, time 312.2 d.

Ariel (encounter 15)

3.04 km/s

U00-01 event 12: altitude 55 km, θ=0°, period 16.7 d, periapsis 6.1 R_U, time 332.4 d.

Titania (encounter 16)

3.18 km/s

U00-01 event 13: altitude 388 km, θ=0°, period 14.5 d, periapsis 5.7 R_U, time 348.2 d.

Umbriel (encounter 17)

3.64 km/s

U00-01 event 14: altitude 54 km, θ=180°, period 13.2 d, periapsis 5.5 R_U, time 364.3 d.

Oberon (encounter 18)

2.60 km/s

U00-01 event 15: altitude 584 km, θ=0°, period 14.5 d, periapsis 6.1 R_U, time 378.7 d.

Ariel (encounter 19)

2.99 km/s

U00-01 event 16: altitude 133 km, θ=180°, period 12.6 d, periapsis 6.0 R_U, time 406.2 d.

Ariel (encounter 20)

2.99 km/s

U00-01 event 17: altitude 219 km, θ=180°, period 11.2 d, periapsis 6.0 R_U, time 418.8 d.

Ariel (encounter 21)

2.99 km/s

U00-01 event 18: altitude 119 km, θ=0°, period 9.9 d, periapsis 5.9 R_U, time 440.7 d.

Oberon (encounter 22)

2.13 km/s

U00-01 event 19: altitude 109 km, θ=180°, period 11.5 d, periapsis 7.1 R_U, time 448.9 d.

Ariel (encounter 23)

2.00 km/s

U00-01 event 20: altitude 651 km, θ=0°, period 8.8 d, periapsis 7.0 R_U, time 473.6 d.

Ariel (encounter 24)

1.87 km/s

U00-01 event 21: altitude 88 km, θ=180°, period 10.2 d, periapsis 7.1 R_U, time 491.3 d.

Ariel (encounter 25)

1.86 km/s

U00-01 event 22: altitude 251 km, θ=0°, period 11.4 d, periapsis 7.2 R_U, time 501.8 d.

Oberon (encounter 26)

2.10 km/s

U00-01 event 23: altitude 282 km, θ=-12°, period 12.5 d, periapsis 9.0 R_U, time 526.5 d.

Umbriel (encounter 27)

1.97 km/s

U00-01 event 24: altitude 432 km, θ=-101°, period 12.8 d, periapsis 9.0 R_U, time 561.6 d.

Umbriel (encounter 28)

1.97 km/s

U00-01 event 25: altitude 196 km, θ=180°, period 11.3 d, periapsis 8.9 R_U, time 575.2 d.

Oberon (encounter 29)

1.78 km/s

U00-01 event 26: altitude 404 km, θ=180°, period 13.2 d, periapsis 10.3 R_U, time 583.8 d.

Umbriel (encounter 30)

1.20 km/s

U00-01 event 27: altitude 60 km, θ=0°, period 11.8 d, periapsis 10.2 R_U, time 599.2 d.

Titania (encounter 31)

1.93 km/s

U00-01 event 28: altitude 286 km, θ=0°, period 9.7 d, periapsis 9.0 R_U, time 609.8 d.

Oberon (encounter 32)

1.44 km/s

U00-01 event 29: altitude 241 km, θ=180°, period 11.7 d, periapsis 11.2 R_U, time 637.7 d.

Titania (encounter 33)

1.72 km/s

U00-01 event 30: altitude 342 km, θ=0°, period 9.5 d, periapsis 9.9 R_U, time 662.1 d.

Umbriel (encounter 34)

1.29 km/s

U00-01 event 31: altitude 166 km, θ=180°, period 8.3 d, periapsis 9.7 R_U, time 682.8 d.

Umbriel (encounter 35)

1.29 km/s

U00-01 event 32: altitude 151 km, θ=180°, period 7.3 d, periapsis 9.5 R_U, time 691.1 d (end of energy-reduction phase).

Titania (encounter 36)

1.30 km/s

U00-01 event 33: altitude 909 km, θ=138°, period 9.9 d, periapsis 13.3 R_U, time 696.1 d (begin Ariel-rendezvous phase).

Titania (encounter 37)

1.04 km/s

U00-01 event 34: altitude 1293 km, θ=139°, period 8.7 d, periapsis 12.2 R_U, time 709.2 d.

Titania (encounter 38)

1.04 km/s

U00-01 event 35: altitude 95 km, θ=-180°, period 6.5 d, periapsis 9.3 R_U, time 717.9 d.

Titania (encounter 39)

1.04 km/s

U00-01 event 36: altitude 2189 km, θ=-173°, period 6.1 d, periapsis 8.4 R_U, time 744.0 d.

Umbriel (encounter 40)

1.61 km/s

U00-01 event 37: altitude 238 km, θ=-180°, period 5.5 d, periapsis 8.1 R_U, time 760.7 d.

Umbriel (encounter 41)

1.61 km/s

U00-01 event 38: altitude 77 km, θ=-180°, period 5.0 d, periapsis 7.7 R_U, time 777.2 d.

Umbriel (encounter 42)

1.61 km/s

U00-01 event 39: altitude 519 km, θ=-180°, period 4.7 d, periapsis 7.5 R_U, time 802.1 d.

Ariel (encounter 43)

0.92 km/s

U00-01 event 40: altitude 316 km, time 810.8 d — final Ariel rendezvous (sufficiently below the 1-km/s design goal to permit Ariel orbit insertion).

Cycle-level identity (multi-arc invariants)

Aphelion ratio (AR)

—

Turn ratio (TR)

—

Transit times (days)

—

Definition status

incomplete — core fields missing or known-unknowns tracked below

Primary citation

Heaton, A. F. & Longuski, J. M. (2003). Feasibility of a Galileo-Style Tour of the Uranian Satellites. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 591-595 (July-August 2003).

DOI: 10.2514/2.3981

orbit source derived orbit fidelity analytic-ephemeris V∞ source derived V∞ fidelity analytic-ephemeris

Notes

Prototypical Galileo-style tour at Uranus, demonstrating for the first time (paper §Conclusions, p. 595) that the Jovian-system tour strategy transfers to the Uranian system because the Uranian-satellite/Uranus mass ratios mirror the Jovian-satellite/Jupiter mass ratios (Tables 1+2: Titania/U mass ratio 4.06e-5 vs Ganymede/J 7.80e-5 — same order of magnitude). Single Earth launch with Jupiter gravity assist (closes only in 2008; next similar opportunity ~2022, then several decades). Tour structure (paper §Uranian Tour Example): * Inclination-reduction phase (events 1-9, ~261 d): nine Titania flybys crank the initial 13.6-deg arrival inclination down to the equatorial plane (paper p. 594). * Energy-reduction phase (events 11-32, ~430 d): Oberon for periapsis maintenance; Titania, Umbriel and Ariel pump down period while preserving periapsis > 4 R_U. * Ariel-rendezvous phase (events 33-40, ~115 d): multiple Titania flybys followed by Umbriel flybys with a final Umbriel -> Ariel transfer arriving at V_inf = 0.92 km/s (under the 1-km/s design goal). Total tour duration 810.7 d (~2.2 yr) from Titania arrival to Ariel rendezvous. End-to-end mission duration ~13.3 yr (Earth launch to Ariel rendezvous). Admitted under the v4.7 catalogue-scope expansion (commit 5665fc6) as orbit_class=mga_tour — Galileo-style tours are the canonical archetype the v4.7 taxonomy was widened to accommodate. Second mga_tour row (after tito-2018-mars-free-return, commit b6bcbb3). Resolves the paywall gate (PDF acquired by the user 2026-06-16): this paper is a Galileo-style satellite tour, NOT a cycler. The SILVER candidate's V_inf tuple (0.92, 0.96, 0.89) km/s at sequence Umbriel-Oberon-Umbriel (1,1) does NOT appear in Table 5 — the 0.92 km/s value occurs only at the Ariel terminal rendezvous (event 40), not at Umbriel. Different topology (Umbriel-Oberon-Umbriel two-body cycler vs a 40-flyby one-shot Galileo-style tour), different structural class (cycler vs mga_tour), different evidence ladder (V2-moontour FAIL_QUASI_BOUNDED + V3 PASS for the SILVER vs Heaton-Longuski's published STOUR patched-conic). So Heaton-Longuski 2003 does NOT prior-publish the SILVER. Reproduction status: V0 internal-consistency only. Not reproduced on real ephemeris (the SPICE Uranian-kernel work for V4-Uranus is in flight under). The V4 strict gauntlet, when complete, will be applicable to this row.

Source quotes (per-field provenance)

Every numerical value in this entry traces to a verbatim or paraphrased quote from a cited source.

launch_epoch

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 3: 'Launch, 3/19/2008, V_inf 9.80 km/s'.

validity_window.start

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 3 launch row: '3/19/2008'.

validity_window.end

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 3 'Titania arrival, 5/2/2019' + Table 5 event 40 'Time, days 810.8' = 2021-07-20T19:12:00Z (810.8 d after Tour event 1; sub-day precision derived from Table 5's stated tenth-of-a-day).

vinf_kms_at_encounters.0.vinf_kms

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 3 Launch row: V_inf 9.80 km/s.

vinf_kms_at_encounters.1.vinf_kms

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 3 Jupiter flyby row: V_inf 11.11 km/s.

vinf_kms_at_encounters.2.vinf_kms

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 3 Uranus arrival row: V_inf 6.44 km/s.

vinf_kms_at_encounters.42.vinf_kms

Heaton-Longuski 2003 Table 5 event 40 (Ariel): V_inf 0.92 km/s (the design-goal arrival speed for Ariel orbit insertion).

n_returns

Heaton-Longuski 2003 §Uranian Tour Example p. 594: single Earth launch and single Ariel-rendezvous terminal arrival — non-repeating Galileo-style tour, n_returns=1.