Orbital Rendezvous Research Articles

Mars ascent propulsion on a minimum scale

A concept is presented for a single stage vehicle intended to lift a Mars sample to an orbital rendezvous. At 200 kg liftoff mass, it can potentially be delivered by a Mars Pathfinder size aeroshell. Based on launch vehicle design principles, propellants are pumped from thin-walled low pressure tanks into compact high pressure thrusters. Technical risk is reduced by using non-cryogenic propellants, and by driving piston pumps with heated helium.

Orbital rendezvous using two-step sliding mode control

The problem of spacecraft rendezvous is studied, using sliding mode control in the presence of the earth's gravitational perturbation. The impulsive solution of Lambert's problem is obtained using the combined equations method to minimize total ΔV via an iterative method, and it is used as the desired trajectory for the rendezvous. In this paper, a two-step sliding mode control method is introduced for solving the rendezvous problem with finite-thrust including unmodeled dynamics. The thrust-coast-thrust type control laws for the system to follow the desired trajectories are represented and resultant trajectories are close enough to the Lambert's orbit with comparable amount of ΔV to the Lambert's impulsive solution. All state variables matched the final boundary conditions reasonably well at the end of maneuver.

Optimal low-thrust rendezvous using equinoctial orbit elements

The problem of optimal low-thrust rendezvous using continuous constant acceleration is presented based on the use of the non-singular equinoctial orbit elements. State and adjoint equations are integrated numerically by applying the thrust vector along a direction that maximizes the variational Hamiltonian at each instant of time. The two-point-boundary-value problem is solved via a Newton-Raphson scheme after guessing the initial values of the Lagrange multipliers as well as the total flight time. The transversality condition for the Hamiltonian at the final time is also used to carry out the 7 × 7 search. Equinoctial elements have previously been used to carry out minimum-time orbit transfers by considering only the five slowly varying elements. The inclusion of the sixth element representing the fast variable has allowed us to extend the applicability of the non-singular formulation to problems of orbital rendezvous.

フォボス・ランデブ軌道の設計・解析

A new orbit for the global observation of Phobos, the first satellite of Mars, is presented in this paper. It is shown that the global survey of Phobos with both the high resolution of about 1m and various solar phase angles can be made during the period of one Martian year from this new orbit. That orbit is named here as “Phobos-Rendezvous Orbit.” The gravity from Phobos plays a significant role for the global observation with almost no fuel. This orbit, however, is adjacent to an instable one. Increment of the inclination of the rendezvous orbit puts the orbit into the instable region. Simulation of the stabilization maneuvers indicates that the Phobos-Rendezvous Orbit can be maintained with small amount of fuel.

Optimal Impulsive Time-Fixed Orbital Rendezvous and Interception with Path Constraints

Minimum-fuel, impulsive, time-fixed solutions are obtained for the problem of orbital rendezvous and interception with interior path constraints. Transfers between coplanar circular orbits in an inverse-square gravitational field are considered, subject to a circular path constraint representing a minimum or maximum permissible orbital radius. Primer vector theory is extended to incorporate path constraints, and the optimal number of impulses along with their times and positions are determined. The existence of constraint boundary arcs is investigated as well as the optimality of a class of singular arc solutions. A bifurcation phenomenon is discovered in a maximum-radius solution as the transfer time is increased. To illustrate the complexities introduced by path constraints, an analysis is made of optimal rendezvous in field-free space subject to a minimum radius constraint.

Stabilization via dynamic output feedback - A numerical approach

References 1 Jacobson, R. J., McDanell, J. P., and Rinker, G. C., Use of Ballistic Arcs in Thrust Navigation, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 11, No. 8, 1974, pp. 590-596. Rinker, G. C., Jacobson, R. A., and Wood, L. J., Statistical Analysis of Trim Maneuvers in Low-Thrust Interplanetary Navigation, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 13, No. 8, 1976, pp. 509-512. Thornton, C. L., and Jacobson, R. A., Capability for an Ion Drive Rendezvous with Halley's Comet, Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 26, No. 3, 1978, pp. 197-210. Noton, M., Salehi, S. V., and Elliott, C. A., Low Thrust Navigation for a Comet-Nucleus Sample-Return Mission, Second International Symposium on Spacecraft Flight Dynamics (ESA), NTIS, N8725364, Darmstadt, Germany, Oct. 1986. Jensen D. L., Kinematics of Rendezvous Maneuvers, Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 7, No. 3, 1984, pp. 307-314. Guelman, M., Closed Form Solution of True Proportional Navigation, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol. AES-12, 1976, pp. 472-482. Niemi, N. J., Investigation of a Terminal Guidance System for a Satellite Rendezvous, AIAA Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1963, pp. 405-411. Cesari, L., Asymptotic Behaviour and Stability Problems in Ordinary Differential Equations, Academic, New York, 1963. Carter, T., and Humi, M., Fuel-Optimal Rendezvous Near a Point in General Keplerian Orbit, Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 10, No. 6, 1987, pp. 567-573. Wertz, R. (ed.), Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control, D. Reidel Publishing, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1978.

Guidance and control for cooperative tether-mediated orbital rendezvous

The tether-mediated rendezvous procedure involves a free-flying pursuit vehicle that docks with a tether tip vehicle suspended at the end of a tether. The tether tip vehicle is equipped with small thrusters, and its maneuvers, along with the tether length, are controlled in such a way that they assist with the rendezvous. Presented in this paper is an algorithm that optimizes the location of the rendezvous state such that the minimum total maneuvering effort is required of the two vehicles performing the cooperative tether-mediated rendezvous. A variation to this algorithm that permits the maximum proximity time between the two vehicles is also described. The guidance algorithm was tested by simulating perturbations of the pursuit vehicle from its nominal rendezvous trajectory and then by observing the capability of the algorithm to determine corrective maneuvers to allow a successful rendezvous. Results indicate that the algorithm performs well even with large pursuit vehicle perturbations, and the resulting total fuel cost for both vehicles is less than what would be required by having one vehicle alone perform the rendezvous maneuvers.

The Myth of Inevitable Progress by Franco Ferrarotti

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 709 Why? Because the LM was assembled in the same manner: piece by meticulous piece. Or that Houbolt, who advocated the accepted idea of the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, found the records of Russian Kondratyrek , who advocated the same approach fifty years before and was ignored. The authors avoid the tedium of technical history with interesting tidbits—points in the process part of the interior structure were to be edible in case the astronauts were stranded, and the as­ tronauts were going to have “patches” to slap over micrometeorite holes. At the end, we note that LM engineers were selling hot dogs on Manhattan streets, von Braun was selling helicopters, Americans were spending more on “space invaders” than the space shuttle, the Russians were building a space station, and the Japanese unveiled plans for a space city. The human drama and suffering of “fire in the spacecraft” and the agony of using the LM as a “lifeboat in space” are brought much closer to the reader by this book than by other studies. Pellegrino and Stoff successfully employ oral history to sup­ plement the traditional documentation. Subthemes cover important NASA history such as management, the moon race with the Russians, and the decline of NASA in the 1970s and 1980s; one cannot help seeing the seeds of the shuttle disaster in these pages. This book is not a humdrum nuts-and-bolts story but an important segment of the human quest for knowledge. Here are two authors who do that quest justice. William L. Ziglar Dr. Ziglar, dean of academic affairs and Kea Professor of American History at Eastern College, won the Goddard Prize in Space History in 1979. Currently he is researching the Mississippi Test Facility story and aspects of the management program of James Webb. The Myth of Inevitable Progress. By Franco Ferrarotti. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1985. Pp. viii + 208; notes, bibliography, index. $35.00. This is a book on the theory of technology; more specifically, it gives a theoretical overview of the sociology of industrialization. Franco Ferrarotti develops the position that “notwithstanding profound dif­ ferences of political ideology and institutional character” among coun­ tries, the social process of industrialization has become virtually the “defining characteristic” of the modern state, whatever type of capi­ talism or socialism and whatever stage of economic development may prevail. And yet, he believes that to see technological change and industrialization as a global social process it is necessary to impose a tendential unity and coherence on diverse structures, cultures, per­ 710 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE sonalities, and values, coins—we are reminded by Schumpeter—that do not readily melt. Thus, the social system of technology and industrialization may indeed be analyzed scientifically but “only on the basis of an ordering principle, or a group of premises linked in various ways to the inter­ ests—in the widest sense—of the researcher and the historical context to which he belongs.” The author points this out not so much to introduce a methodological discussion ofexplanation in terms ofsocial interests but rather to establish as unsound the ingenuously positivist assumption that concrete social realities (given, invariable, and wholly knowable) are reflected in posited social systems and theoretical frameworks. More important, he notes that such positivist errors lead history and sociology to become handmaidens ofestablished interests, mere instruments “for the rationalization andjustification of the status quo.” It is no surprise, then, that the book should open with a warning against the dangers of technocracy “in its refined present day form,” which is seen as far more insidious than traditional notions of technocracy. In­ sidious, Ferrarotti says, because its structure and theoretical assump­ tions are invisible: “self-evident and self-justified and therefore not in need of either a historical dimension or a democratic legitimation.” Ferrarotti sees the process of industrialization as a fundamental cultural break—not just technical and economic, but transformative of traditional ideas and values, relating, for example, to time, to work, to class, to power, to the relationship between work and thought, and to the relationship between public and private. This analysis is strengthened by the attention he gives to the actors in the historical process (workers...

Chariots for Apollo: The Making of the Lunar Module by Charles R. Pellegrino, Joshua Stoff

708 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE on the aerospace industry, to name but a few. The index is full of St. Louis natives but omits generic topics such as “airlines” and “jets.” The book’s organization, with reams of air-show details sandwiched between two shorter sections on airfields and manufacturing, seems to undercut a sense of continuity. Although the extensive material on early ballooning and air meets is carefully researched and informative, the post—World War II era does not receive the same thorough attention, and there is no doc­ umentation for the “Publisher’s Afterword.” There are few studies of aviation and its relation to the urban environment. This book rep­ resents a start but is not necessarily the best model to follow. Roger E. Bilstein Dr. Bilstein teaches courses in aerospace history at the University of Houston— Clear Lake and is the author of several books and articles on the subject, including Flight in America: From the Wrights to the Astronauts (Baltimore, 1984; updated paperback, 1987). Chariots for Apollo: The Making of the Lunar Module. By Charles R. Pel­ legrino and Joshua Stoff. New York: Atheneum, 1985. Pp. xiv + 238; illustrations, bibliography. $17.95. The essence of the American space program can be crystalized into the story of the lunar module. Charles Pellegrino and Joshua Stoff have achieved this difficult undertaking in a manner and style that are unique in studies of this genre. Using a plot scheme reminiscent of a Michener or Uris who weaves his stories around a number of families or groups of participants and then brings them together as the book unfolds, the authors provide pleasant reading. But unlike a novel or a TV docudrama, Chariots for Apollo portrays real people in real situations, and it does so with strict adherence to the actual events. The result is docuhistory. Contrary to the majority of works in tech­ nological history, Pellegrino and Stoff have created an intriguing mas­ terpiece of human emotions and flesh-and-blood people. The authors place the space race against the backdrop of world events. The lunar module (LM) design was debated at the same time that Castro sus­ pended democratic elections in Cuba and began to fill the Batista death camps with enemies of his own. On the same day that Apollo 6 failed to meet its primary mission (and the backup test of a crash dive to simulate a return to earth from the moon was viewed as a failure), Martin Luther King’s mission in America met death in Memphis. Human interest may well be the strongest aspect of the book. We forget that the people involved in the moon mission were performing unprecedented tasks. So it is appropriate that we know that Bob Ekenstierna , the descent stage supervisor, repairs ancient metal armor. TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 709 Why? Because the LM was assembled in the same manner: piece by meticulous piece. Or that Houbolt, who advocated the accepted idea of the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, found the records of Russian Kondratyrek , who advocated the same approach fifty years before and was ignored. The authors avoid the tedium of technical history with interesting tidbits—points in the process part of the interior structure were to be edible in case the astronauts were stranded, and the as­ tronauts were going to have “patches” to slap over micrometeorite holes. At the end, we note that LM engineers were selling hot dogs on Manhattan streets, von Braun was selling helicopters, Americans were spending more on “space invaders” than the space shuttle, the Russians were building a space station, and the Japanese unveiled plans for a space city. The human drama and suffering of “fire in the spacecraft” and the agony of using the LM as a “lifeboat in space” are brought much closer to the reader by this book than by other studies. Pellegrino and Stoff successfully employ oral history to sup­ plement the traditional documentation. Subthemes cover important NASA history such as management, the moon race with the Russians, and the decline of NASA in the 1970s and 1980s; one cannot help seeing the seeds of the shuttle disaster in these pages. This book is not a humdrum nuts...

Non-linear guidance laws for automatic orbital rendezvous

In the automatic assembly of space stations or the automatic rendezvous and docking of a space-shuttle vehicle with a space station, it is of interest to determine suitable guidance laws for orbital rendezvous which are amenable to on-board implementation. In this paper, various forms of non-linear guidance laws for automatic orbital rendezvous of two bodies represented by point masses in a central newtonian gravitational field are derived. A basic requirement is that the approach be smooth and non-oscillatory. The global dynamic behaviour of each of the resulting feedback systems is determined analytically and/or by computer simulation.

Co-Apsidal Autonomous Terminal Rendezvous in Mars Orbit

The autonomous (or unmanned) Mars Orbit Rendezvous may be divided into four phases: approach, terminal, station-keeping, and docking. The paper outlines a feasible concept for the terminal rendezvous phase. A co-apsidal terminal rendezvous technique is described which utilizes the advantages of aligning the lines of apsides of two coplanar elliptic orbits of slightly different periods but of the same apoapsis distance. An initial maneuver nulling the inclination between the orbits is followed by another maneuver to align the two lines of apsides. A proper phasing maneuver is then executed at the coapsidal point, and the final rendezvous maneuver is performed at the same coapsidal point to complete the terminal rendezvous transfer. Cases are formulated in order of complexity with a view to illustrate the basic ideas of this technique. Pertinent calculations are also presented.

Optimal impulsive trajectory rendezvous by mathematical programming

Abstract This paper describes a mathematical programming approach to the computation of fuel-optimal trajectories for orbital rendezvous. The optimization technique is based on gradient projection implementation of variable metric descent relative to an augmented Lagrangian. Rapid convergence to constrained minima from crude initial estimates has been obtained for a variety of near Earth and interplanetary orbital rendezvous missions. Examples include optimal fly-by of Comet Encke and positioning of a geostationary satellite.

Nonlinear Programing by Projection-Restoration Applied to Optimal Geostationary Satellite Positioning

This study is concerned with the development and application of a quasi-Newton descent algorithm for solving finite dimensional optimization problems subject to nonlinear equality and inequality constraints by the use of gradient projection and constraint restoration. The algorithm is applied to the positioning of a geostationary satellite which is interpreted as a problem of optimal TV-impulse orbital rendezvous.

Comment on minimum-time orbital rendezvous between neighboring elliptic orbits

Comment on minimum-time orbital rendezvous between neighboring elliptic orbits

Operations and Functions of the Apollo Guidance Computer During Rendezvous

The Lunar Orbit Rendezvous concept of two manned spacecraft is a critical activity in the success of a lunar-landing mission. In present and future Apollo flights the command module and the lunar module are both equipped with an on-board capability to enable the crew to effect and complete a rendezvous. This on-board capability is centered around the Apollo Guidance Computer which receives inputs from the crew, as well as information from other on-board subsystems, to perform the guidance and navigation computations necessary to control the intercept.The purpose of this paper is to describe the operational functions performed by both spacecraft computers, their design, program organization, control options, displays, inputs, and crew interfaces. A time history of the operations and procedures used by the crew, and the computer's role, in each vehicle during rendezvous is discussed, as well as presentation of the results obtained by the on-board system for actual flights.

Minimum-time orbital rendezvous between neighboring elliptic orbits

Time-optimal rendezvous maneuvers are studied. The system considered consists of a target vehicle (nonmaneuvering vehicle) in a known elliptic orbit and an interceptor vehicle (maneuvering vehicle) in a neighboring elliptic orbit such that the ratio of the distance between the two vehicles to the radius of the target-vehicle orbit is small. The interceptor vehicle has propulsive jet systems which can produce a variable thrust, positive or negative, independently in three perpendicular directions. The case where the target vehicle is in the elliptic orbit is mainly considered and some analytical difficulties involved in the circular-orbit case are discussed. Several time-optimal trajectories for different configurations are shown.

Optimal four-impulse fixed-time rendezvous in the vicinity of a circular orbit.

Minimum fuel multiple impulse orbital rendezvous for fixed transfer time near circular orbits

Elliptic orbit rendezvous.

Elliptic orbit rendezvous.

Finite-thrust explicit guidance law for nearly circular orbital rendezvous.

Covers advancements in spacecraft and tactical and strategic missile systems, including subsystem design and application, mission design and analysis, materials and structures, developments in space sciences, space processing and manufacturing, space operations, and applications of space technologies to other fields.

A Simple Optical Ranging Technique for Orbital Rendezvous

NAVIGATIONVolume 13, Issue 4 p. 386-390 A Simple Optical Ranging Technique for Orbital Rendezvous R. PITLAK, R. PITLAK Mr. Pitlak is an Optical Systems Engineer and Mr. Henry a Senior LEM Analyst with Kollsman Instrument Corp., Syosset, N.Y.Search for more papers by this authorR. HENRY, R. HENRY Mr. Pitlak is an Optical Systems Engineer and Mr. Henry a Senior LEM Analyst with Kollsman Instrument Corp., Syosset, N.Y.Search for more papers by this author R. PITLAK, R. PITLAK Mr. Pitlak is an Optical Systems Engineer and Mr. Henry a Senior LEM Analyst with Kollsman Instrument Corp., Syosset, N.Y.Search for more papers by this authorR. HENRY, R. HENRY Mr. Pitlak is an Optical Systems Engineer and Mr. Henry a Senior LEM Analyst with Kollsman Instrument Corp., Syosset, N.Y.Search for more papers by this author First published: Winter 1966 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-4296.1966.tb02184.x AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume13, Issue4Winter 1966Pages 386-390 RelatedInformation