Related papers: Optimal impact strategies for asteroid deflection
Recent advances in convex optimization have leveraged computer-assisted proofs to develop optimized first-order methods that improve over classical algorithms. However, each optimized method is specially tailored for a particular problem…
Earth is bombarded by meteors, occasionally by one large enough to cause a significant explosion and possible loss of life. Although the odds of a deadly asteroid strike in the next century are low, the most likely impact is by a relatively…
Hazardous asteroid has been one of the concerns for humankind as fallen asteroid on earth could cost a huge impact on the society.Monitoring these objects could help predict future impact events, but such efforts are hindered by the large…
An algorithm for planning near time-optimal trajectories for systems with an oscillatory internal dynamics has been developed in previous work. It is based on assembling a complete trajectory from motion primitives called jerk segments,…
Optimization is finding the best solution, which mathematically amounts to locating the global minimum of some cost function. Optimization is traditionally automated with digital or quantum computers, each having their limitations and none…
This paper presents the preliminary design of the descent and landing trajectory of the ESA Argonaut lunar lander. The mission scenario and driving system constraints are presented and accounted for in the design of a fuel-optimal…
High power Earth and orbital-based directed energy (DE) systems pose a potential hazard to Earth orbiting spacecraft. The use of very high power, large aperture DE systems to propel spacecraft is being pursued as the only known, feasible…
Autonomous orbit determination via integration of epoch-differenced gravity gradients and starlight refraction is proposed in this paper for low-Earth-orbiting satellites operating in GPS-denied environments. The starlight refrac-tion can…
The minimum-fuel low-thrust transfer between circular orbits is formulated using the Edelbaum's averaged dynamics with the addition of the nodal precession due to the first zonal term. The extremal analysis shows that an optimal transfer is…
Purpose: This paper presents a full fourth-order model of the gravity gradient torque of spacecraft around asteroids by taking into consideration of the inertia integrals of the spacecraft up to the fourth order, which is an improvement of…
A concept for an Impact Mitigation Preparation Mission, called Don Quijote, is to send two spacecraft to a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA): an Orbiter and an Impactor. The Impactor collides with the asteroid while the Orbiter measures the…
We study the minimum time control problem of the launchers. The optimal trajectories of the problem may contain singular arcs, and thus chattering arcs. The motion of the launcher is described by its attitude kinematics and dynamics and…
The Asteroid Tugboat (AT) is a fully controlled asteroid deflection concept using a robotic spacecraft powered by a high efficiency, electric propulsion system (ion or plasma) which docks with and attaches to the asteroid, conducts…
This Engineering Note addresses the challenge of estimating the probability of collision for tethered spacecraft during close encounters with other space objects. Standard probability of collision methods, based on spherical hard-body…
In this paper we present a fast method based on successive convexification for generating fuel-optimized spacecraft rendezvous trajectories in the presence of mixed-integer constraints. A recently developed paradigm of state-triggered…
Despite the large amount of high quality data generated in recent space encounters with asteroids, the majority of our knowledge about these objects comes from ground based observations. Asteroids travelling in orbits that are potentially…
We describe an analytical method for computing the orbital parameters of a planet from the periodogram of a radial velocity signal. The method is very efficient and provides a good approximation of the orbital parameters. The accuracy is…
More than a half of asteroids in the main belt have irregular shapes with the ratios of the minor to major axis lengths less than 0.6. One of the mechanisms to create such shapes is collisions between asteroids. The relationship between…
The amount of debris in orbit has increased significantly over the years. With the recent growth of interest in space exploration, conjunction assessment has become a central issue. One important metric to evaluate conjunction risk is the…
In recent study in Ref.[7] (arXiv: 2401.12525), we have introduced a method aimed at calculating the weak-field asymptotic deflection angle. This method offers an efficient computational approach that avoids the complexities of integration…