OPTIMAL CONTROL OF A SOLAR RADIATION PRESSURE POWERED SPACE VEHICLE

摘要

The restricted planar two-body dynamics case of a minimum time, Earth to Mars trajectory, by means of solar radiation pressure (solar sail) is investigated. The equations of motion and solar pressure values are derived. The gradient method of optimization is used to enforce convergence on a penalty function that includes all rendezvous constraints necessary at the final orbit. The angle between the sail and a radial vector from the sun is used as the control variable. Transit time is examined as a function of vehicle mass and sail area. The results of constant sail angle, variable sail angle, variable mass, and variable sail area are presented.