Optimality of Aeroassisted Orbital Plane Changes

摘要

Future spacecraft designs and in particular military spacecraft may incorporatethe use of synergetic orbital change maneuvers. The analysis of these maneuvers and their optimality is an area in which much work has been done but only a few questions have been answered. This thesis discusses the theoretical background for solving the optimal control problem. A framework is set forth for the formulation of the overall problem which must be solved. Pontryagin's Maximum Principle is applied to obtain the necessary conditions for maximizing the inclination change for a given amount of propellant. Effects of a heating rate constraint imposed by the thermal protection system are considered. The Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories (POST) is used to obtain results for the Maneuverable Reentry Research Vehicle (MRRV) to illustrate certain points. Two characterizations of the atmospheric pass are analyzed and compared to previous work, namely Aerobang and Aerocruise. A discussion on the limited use of POST as a direct method of analysis is also included.