Related papers: A Mass-optimized Gravity Tractor for Asteroid Defl…
Understanding dust dynamics in the vicinity of asteroids is key for future science missions and, in the long-term, for asteroid exploitation. This paper analyzes the feasibility of manipulating asteroid material by means of solar radiation…
Trajectory optimization of low-thrust perturbed orbit rendezvous is a crucial technology for space missions in low Earth orbits, which is difficult to solve due to its initial value sensitivity, especially when the transfer trajectory has…
A simple procedure is developed to determine orbital elements of an object orbiting in a central force field which contribute more than three independent celestial positions. By manipulation of formal three point Gauss method of orbit…
We consider the optimization of the vector of grasping forces that support a known generalized force acting on the grasped object---a rigid body or a mechanism. Working in the framework of finite-dimensional normed vector spaces and their…
A metric-field approach to gravitation is presented. It is based on an idea of dependency of space-time properties on measuring instruments. Some bimetric equations that realize this idea are considered. They were tested by the binary…
Stellarator optimization is a multi-objective, non-convex problem characterized by a complex objective landscape containing many local minima. The solution resulting from a single optimization is highly sensitive to factors such as the…
We consider the finite horizon optimal steering of the joint state probability distribution subject to the angular velocity dynamics governed by the Euler equation. The problem and its solution amounts to controlling the spin of a rigid…
This paper focuses on robustness to disturbance forces and uncertain payloads. We present a novel formulation to optimize the robustness of dynamic trajectories. A straightforward transcription of this formulation into a nonlinear…
A gravitational machine is defined as an arrangement of gravitating masses from which useful energy can be extracted. It is shown that such machines may exist if the masses are of normal astronomical size. A simple example of a…
Gradient-based optimization methods are the most popular choice for finding local optima for classical minimization and saddle point problems. Here, we highlight a systemic issue of gradient dynamics that arise for saddle point problems,…
To evaluate a potential usually one analyzes trajectories of test particles. For the Galactic Center case astronomers use bright stars or photons, so there are two basic observational techniques to investigate a gravitational potential,…
An innovative orbit determination method which makes use of gravity gradients for Low-Earth-Orbiting satellites is proposed. The measurement principle of gravity gradiometry is briefly reviewed and the sources of measurement error are…
Space provides unique opportunities to test gravitation. By using an interplanetary spacecraft as a test mass, it is possible to test General Relativity at the Solar System distance scale. This requires to compute accurately the trajectory…
This paper presents a novel methodology to control spacecraft swarms about singleasteroids with arbitrary gravitational potential coefficients. This approach enablesthe use of small, autonomous swarm spacecraft in conjunction with a…
This study investigates the different novel forms of the dynamical equations of a particle orbiting a rotating asteroid and the effective potential, the Jacobi integral, etc. on different manifolds. Nine new forms of the dynamical equations…
Gravity inversion allows us to constrain the interior mass distribution of a planetary body using the observed shape, rotation, and gravity. Traditionally, techniques developed for gravity inversion can be divided into Monte Carlo methods,…
Recent successful lunar landing missions have generated significant interest among space agencies in establishing a permanent human settlement on the Moon. Building a lunar base requires multiple and frequent landing missions to support…
Given the extreme accuracy reached by future global space astrometry, one needs a global relativistic modeling of observations. A relativistic definition of astrometric observables is then essential to find uniquely coordinates, parallax…
In this paper, the trajectory planning problem for autonomous rendezvous and docking between a controlled spacecraft and a tumbling target is addressed. The use of a variable planning horizon is proposed in order to construct an appropriate…
The calculation of the underground density field from measured gravity data has been done by a variety of methods of varied types. The use of the vector gravity components is here addressed in order to develop one accurate gravity inversion…