SENSITIVITY OF THE ASTEROID REDIRECT ROBOTIC MISSION (ARRM) TO LAUNCH DATE AND ASTEROID STAY TIME

National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) is being designed to robotically capture and then redirect an asteroidal boulder into a stable orbit in the vicinity of the moon, where astronauts would be able to visit and study it.' The current reference trajectory for the robotic portion, ARRM, assumes a launch on a Delta IV H in the end of the calendar year 2021, with a return for astronaut operations in cislunar space in 2026. The current baseline design allocates 245 days of stay time at the asteroid for operations and boulder collection. This paper outlines analysis completed by the ARRM mission design team to understand the sensitivity of the reference trajectory to launch date and asteroid stay time.