Maximum Payload,Four-Impulse,Non-Coplanar,Orbital Transfers for an Upper Stage Vehicle of the Space transportation System.

摘要

Payload capabilities were calculated for an expendable upper stage vehicle compatible with the Space Shuttle Vehicle. Analysis was performed for a four-stage vehicle that was modeled with impulsive thrust and transfer trajectories which obey restricted two-body equations of motion. The magnitude of the maximum payload deployed into one of two specified orbits when the other payload is known is solved by breaking the four-impulse transfer into two dual-impulse transfer trajectories. The maximum payload solution for one transfer depends upon the specified payload of the other transfer. Each of the dual-impulse transfer trajectories is determined by solving a quartic equation in the square root of the semi-latus rectum of the transfer orbit. Maximum payload capability was dependent upon the available impulse, the angle between orbit planes, the difference in the radii of the terminal orbits, the plane changes at departure and arrival points, and the transfer angle. Transfer solutions were programmed on a CDC 6600 digital computer. Computed results indicate that the model vehicle is capable of many non-coplanar orbit-to-orbit transfers that still yield practical payloads. As the transfer angle deviates from the neighborhood around 180 deg and the other geometrical parameters increase, the payload decreases. (Author)