Trajectory optimization software for planetary mission design

Abstract

The development history and characteristics of the interactive trajectory-optimization programs MOSES (D'Amario et al., 1981) and PLATO (D'Amario et al., 1982) are briefly reviewed, with an emphasis on their application to the Galileo mission. The requirements imposed by a mission involving flybys of several planetary satellites or planets are discussed; the formulation of the parameter-optimization problem is outlined; and particular attention is given to the use of multiconic methods to model the gravitational attraction of Jupiter in MOSES. Diagrams and tables of numerical data are included.