Generating Solar Sail Trajectories in the Earth-Moon System Using Augmented Finite-Difference Methods
Using a solar sail, a spacecraft orbit can be offset from a central body such that the orbital plane is displaced from the gravitational center. Such a trajectory might be desirable for a single-spacecraft relay to support communications with an outpost at the lunar south pole. Although trajectory d...
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fthindawi:oai:hindawi.com:10.1155/2011/476197 2023-05-15T18:22:33+02:00 Generating Solar Sail Trajectories in the Earth-Moon System Using Augmented Finite-Difference Methods Geoffrey G. Wawrzyniak Kathleen C. Howell 2011 https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/476197 en eng International Journal of Aerospace Engineering https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/476197 Copyright © 2011 Geoffrey G. Wawrzyniak and Kathleen C. Howell. Research Article 2011 fthindawi https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/476197 2019-05-25T21:01:05Z Using a solar sail, a spacecraft orbit can be offset from a central body such that the orbital plane is displaced from the gravitational center. Such a trajectory might be desirable for a single-spacecraft relay to support communications with an outpost at the lunar south pole. Although trajectory design within the context of the Earth-Moon restricted problem is advantageous for this problem, it is difficult to envision the design space for offset orbits. Numerical techniques to solve boundary value problems can be employed to understand this challenging dynamical regime. Numerical finite-difference schemes are simple to understand and implement. Two augmented finite-difference methods (FDMs) are developed and compared to a Hermite-Simpson collocation scheme. With 101 evenly spaced nodes, solutions from the FDM are locally accurate to within 1740 km. Other methods, such as collocation, offer more accurate solutions, but these gains are mitigated when solutions resulting from simple models are migrated to higher-fidelity models. The primary purpose of using a simple, lower-fidelity, augmented finite-difference method is to quickly and easily generate accurate trajectories. Article in Journal/Newspaper South pole Hindawi Publishing Corporation South Pole International Journal of Aerospace Engineering 2011 1 13 |
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Open Polar |
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Hindawi Publishing Corporation |
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fthindawi |
language |
English |
description |
Using a solar sail, a spacecraft orbit can be offset from a central body such that the orbital plane is displaced from the gravitational center. Such a trajectory might be desirable for a single-spacecraft relay to support communications with an outpost at the lunar south pole. Although trajectory design within the context of the Earth-Moon restricted problem is advantageous for this problem, it is difficult to envision the design space for offset orbits. Numerical techniques to solve boundary value problems can be employed to understand this challenging dynamical regime. Numerical finite-difference schemes are simple to understand and implement. Two augmented finite-difference methods (FDMs) are developed and compared to a Hermite-Simpson collocation scheme. With 101 evenly spaced nodes, solutions from the FDM are locally accurate to within 1740 km. Other methods, such as collocation, offer more accurate solutions, but these gains are mitigated when solutions resulting from simple models are migrated to higher-fidelity models. The primary purpose of using a simple, lower-fidelity, augmented finite-difference method is to quickly and easily generate accurate trajectories. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Geoffrey G. Wawrzyniak Kathleen C. Howell |
spellingShingle |
Geoffrey G. Wawrzyniak Kathleen C. Howell Generating Solar Sail Trajectories in the Earth-Moon System Using Augmented Finite-Difference Methods |
author_facet |
Geoffrey G. Wawrzyniak Kathleen C. Howell |
author_sort |
Geoffrey G. Wawrzyniak |
title |
Generating Solar Sail Trajectories in the Earth-Moon System Using Augmented Finite-Difference Methods |
title_short |
Generating Solar Sail Trajectories in the Earth-Moon System Using Augmented Finite-Difference Methods |
title_full |
Generating Solar Sail Trajectories in the Earth-Moon System Using Augmented Finite-Difference Methods |
title_fullStr |
Generating Solar Sail Trajectories in the Earth-Moon System Using Augmented Finite-Difference Methods |
title_full_unstemmed |
Generating Solar Sail Trajectories in the Earth-Moon System Using Augmented Finite-Difference Methods |
title_sort |
generating solar sail trajectories in the earth-moon system using augmented finite-difference methods |
publisher |
International Journal of Aerospace Engineering |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/476197 |
geographic |
South Pole |
geographic_facet |
South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/476197 |
op_rights |
Copyright © 2011 Geoffrey G. Wawrzyniak and Kathleen C. Howell. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/476197 |
container_title |
International Journal of Aerospace Engineering |
container_volume |
2011 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
13 |
_version_ |
1766201955651158016 |