Unified guidance analysis in design of space trajectories.
Dimensionless differential corrections and proper coordinate system for generalized preflight guidance analysis
GUIDANCE AND CONTROL↗
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An analysis of atmospheric entry trajectories for manned and unmanned missions to the planet Venus
A unified atmospheric density model is presented for the planet Venus, and this model is compatible with Russian and American data obtained during the 1967 Venus launch opportunity. Trajectory characteristics involved in atmospheric entry are discussed with reference to roll-control modulation and entry corridor. Subsequent to a trajectory-oriented discussion of potential Venus mission characteristics, a parametric analysis of manned and unmanned vehicle entry trajectories into the Venusian atmosphere is presented. A sensitivity analysis with reference to atmospheric density deviations is included to show the dependence of corridor depth on the atmospheric density profile.
Craig, M. K.↗
The Improvement of Efficiency in the Numerical Computation of Orbit Trajectories
An analysis, system design, programming, and evaluation of results are described for numerical computation of orbit trajectories. Evaluation of generalized methods, interaction of different formulations for satellite motion, transformation of equations of motion and integrator loads, and development of efficient integrators are also considered.
Dyer, J.↗
Trajectory simulation for axisymmetric planetary entry vehicles.
Computer program for parametric analysis and trajectory simulation for axisymmetric planetary entry vehicles
PLANETARY ENTRY↗
Mars Science Laboratory Entry Descent and Landing Simulation Using DSENDS
The most recent planetary science mission to Mars is Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) with the Curiosity rover, launched November 26, 2011 and landed at Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. This spacecraft was the first use at Mars of a complete closed-loop Guidance Navigation and Control (GN&C) system, including guided entry with a lifting body that greatly reduces dispersions during the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) phase to achieve a 25 km x 20 km landing error relative to the selected Gale Crater landing target. In order to confirm meeting the above landing criteria, high-fidelity simulation of the EDL phase is required. The tool used for 6DOF EDL trajectory verification analysis is Dynamics Simulator for Entry, Descent and Surface landing (DSENDS), which is a high-fidelity simulation tool from JPLs Dynamics and Real-Time Simulation Laboratory for the development, test and operations of aero-flight vehicles. DSENDS inherent capability is augmented for MSL with project-specific models of atmosphere, aerodynamics, sensors and thrusters along with GN&C flight software to enable high-fidelity trajectory simulation. This paper will present the model integration and independent verification experience of the JPL EDL trajectory analysis team.
Mars↗
Mars Science Laboratory Entry Descent and Landing Simulation Using DSENDS
The most recent planetary science mission to Mars was Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) with the Curiosity rover, launched November 26, 2011 and landed at Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. This spacecraft was the first use at Mars of a complete closed-loop Guidance Navigation and Control (GN&C) system, including guided entry with a lifting body that greatly reduces dispersions during the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) phase to achieve a 25 km X 20 km landing error relative to the selected Gale Crater landing target. In order to confirm meeting the above landing criteria, high-fidelity simulation of the EDL phase is required. The tool used for 6DOF EDL trajectory verification analysis is Dynamics Simulator for Entry, Descent and Surface landing (DSENDS), which is a high-fidelity simulation tool from JPLs Dynamics and Real-Time Simulation Laboratory for the development, test and operations of aero-flight vehicles. DSENDS inherent capability is augmented for MSL with project-specific models of atmosphere, aerodynamics, sensors and thrusters along with GN&C flight software to enable high-fidelity trajectory simulation. This paper will present the model integration and independent verification experience of the JPL EDL trajectory analysis team.
Burkhart, P. Daniel↗
Launch phase abort analysis for a 50 deg orbital inclination trajectory
Launch phase abort analysis for ascent to orbit trajectory
Source record↗
Investigating and implementing enhancements to the simulation of short-term collision hazards
A software tool, the Relative Collision Matrix (RCM), has been developed to provide a quick-look representation of the shortterm collision hazard to space systems from a fragmentation event in Earth orbit. The software performs multiple fragmentation simulations of space objects to quantify the probability of collision for a satellite or a constellation of satellites nearby. Previously, the results were displayed in a color matrix format which showed the relative hazard of each constellation. The RCM can be used for scientific research and operational assessments even though it was designed for test and evaluation applications. Because of its successful use as an analytical tool, the capabilities of RCM are being extended by enhancing the orbital hazard analysis routines, developing ballistic trajectory hazard analysis routines, and expanding the breakup modeling. Improvements are also being made to the RCM's usability and presentation quality by developing a graphical user interface and by providing graphical animated and nonanimated output.
Huth, Jeffrey S.↗
Mars 2020 Navigation Performance
On February 18, 2021, the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter demonstration landed at Jezero Crater. The Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) architecture, largely the same used to land Curiosity at Gale Crater on August 6, 2012, required high-fidelity flight dynamics simulation with two independent tools to verify performance. The process for creating the EDL simulation using the Dynamics Simulator for Entry, Descent and Surface landing (DSENDS) tool will be discussed, along with its use for for independent verification of the EDL statistical analysis results and reference trajectory simulation. Analysis and usage details both in development and cruise, along with post-landing assessment of the prediction performance of the simulation, will also be discussed.
Wagner, Sean↗
Multidisciplinary Optimization of Urban-Air-Mobility Class Aircraft Trajectories with Acoustic Constraints
The design and analysis of on-demand mobility class vehicles will require thorough acoustic analysis to ensure that more numerous aircraft can operate in densely populated areas without causing excessive levels of noise. This work is a step towards a comprehensive ODM vehicle analysis capability. The authors use 6DOF equations of motion to model the electric quad-rotor concept developed by NASA's Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technologies program. As a first step towards acoustic analysis, this trajectory is coupled to an acoustic model that tracks the sound pressure level perceived by an acoustic observer on the ground. The results show that the approach is successful in finding trajectories that minimize total propulsive impulse while obeying limits imposed on the sound pressure level. Future work will involve adding acoustic analysis of increasing fidelity and tying the resulting trajectories to the performance of the electric propulsion system.
electric aircraft↗
Space shuttle launch vehicle performance trajectory, exchange ratios, and dispersion analysis
A baseline space shuttle performance trajectory for Mission 3A launched from WTR has been generated. Design constraints of maximum dynamic pressure, longitudinal acceleration, and delivered payload were satisfied. Payload exchange ratios are presented with explanation on use. Design envelopes of dynamic pressure, SRB staging point, aerodynamic heating and flight performance reserves are calculated and included.
Toelle, R. G.↗
Uncertainty Optimization Applied to the Monte Carlo Analysis of Planetary Entry Trajectories
Recently, strong evidence of liquid water under the surface of Mars and a meteorite that might contain ancient microbes have renewed interest in Mars exploration. With this renewed interest, NASA plans to send spacecraft to Mars approx. every 26 months. These future spacecraft will return higher-resolution images, make precision landings, engage in longer-ranging surface maneuvers, and even return Martian soil and rock samples to Earth. Future robotic missions and any human missions to Mars will require precise entries to ensure safe landings near science objective and pre-employed assets. Potential sources of water and other interesting geographic features are often located near hazards, such as within craters or along canyon walls. In order for more accurate landings to be made, spacecraft entering the Martian atmosphere need to use lift to actively control the entry. This active guidance results in much smaller landing footprints. Planning for these missions will depend heavily on Monte Carlo analysis. Monte Carlo trajectory simulations have been used with a high degree of success in recent planetary exploration missions. These analyses ascertain the impact of off-nominal conditions during a flight and account for uncertainty. Uncertainties generally stem from limitations in manufacturing tolerances, measurement capabilities, analysis accuracies, and environmental unknowns. Thousands of off-nominal trajectories are simulated by randomly dispersing uncertainty variables and collecting statistics on forecast variables. The dependability of Monte Carlo forecasts, however, is limited by the accuracy and completeness of the assumed uncertainties. This is because Monte Carlo analysis is a forward driven problem; beginning with the input uncertainties and proceeding to the forecasts outputs. It lacks a mechanism to affect or alter the uncertainties based on the forecast results. If the results are unacceptable, the current practice is to use an iterative, trial-and-error approach to reconcile discrepancies. Therefore, an improvement to the Monte Carlo analysis is needed that will allow the problem to be worked in reverse. In this way, the largest allowable dispersions that achieve the required mission objectives can be determined quantitatively.
Olds, John↗
The General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT): Current Features And Adding Custom Functionality
The General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT) is a software system for trajectory optimization, mission analysis, trajectory estimation, and prediction developed by NASA, the Air Force Research Lab, and private industry. GMAT's design and implementation are based on four basic principles: open source visibility for both the source code and design documentation; platform independence; modular design; and user extensibility. The system, released under the NASA Open Source Agreement, runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. User extensions, loaded at run time, have been built for optimization, trajectory visualization, force model extension, and estimation, by parties outside of GMAT's development group. The system has been used to optimize maneuvers for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) and ARTEMIS missions and is being used for formation design and analysis for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS).
Conway, Darrel J.↗
Machine Learning Analysis of Direct Dynamics Trajectory Outcomes for Thermal Deazetization of 2,3-Diazabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene
Experimentally, the thermal gas-phase deazetization of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene (1) results in the loss of N2 and the formation of bicyclo products 3 (exo) and 4 (endo) in a nonstatistical ratio, with preference for the exo product. Here, we report unrestricted M06-2X quasiclassical trajectories initialized from the concerted N2 ejection transition state that were able to replicate the experimental preference to form 3. We found that the 3:4 ratio results from the relative amounts of very fast (ballistic) exotype trajectories versus trajectories that lead to the 1,3-diradical intermediate 2. These quasiclassical trajectories provided a set of transition-state vibrational, velocity, momenta, and geometric features for the machine learning analysis. Additionally, a selection of popular supervised classification algorithms (e.g., random forest) provided poor prediction of trajectory outcomes based on only transition-state vibrational quanta and energy features. However, these machine learning models provided more accurate predictions using atomic velocities and atomic positions, attaining ~70% accuracy using initial conditions and between 85 and 95% accuracy at later reaction time steps. This increased accuracy allowed the feature importance analysis to reveal that, at the later-time analysis, the methylene bridge out-of-plane bending is correlated with trajectory outcomes for the formation of either the exo product or toward the diradical intermediate. Possible reasons for the struggle of machine learning algorithms to classify trajectories based on transition-state features is the heavily overlapping feature values, the finite but very large possible vibrational mode combinations, and the possibility of chaos as trajectories propagate. We examined this chaos by comparing a set of nearly identical trajectories that differed by only a very small scaling of the kinetic energies resulting from the transition-state reaction coordinate.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Trajectory and Aeroheating Environment Development and Sensitivity Analysis for Capsule-shaped Vehicles
Recently, NASA's Exploration Systems Research and Technology Project funded several tasks that endeavored to develop and evaluate various thermal protection systems and high temperature material concepts for potential use on the crew exploration vehicle. In support of these tasks, NASA Langley's Vehicle Analysis Branch generated trajectory information and associated aeroheating environments for more than 60 unique entry cases. Using the Apollo Command Module as the baseline entry system because of its relevance to the favored crew exploration vehicle design, trajectories for a range of lunar and Mars return, direct and aerocapture Earth-entry scenarios were developed. For direct entry, a matrix of cases was created that reflects reasonably expected minimum and maximum values of vehicle ballistic coefficient, inertial velocity at entry interface, and inertial flight path angle at entry interface. For aerocapture, trajectories were generated for a range of values of initial velocity and ballistic coefficient that, when combined with proper initial flight path angles, resulted in achieving a low Earth orbit either by employing a full lift vector up or full lift vector down attitude. For each trajectory generated, aeroheating environments were generated which were intended to bound the thermal protection system requirements for likely crew exploration vehicle concepts. The trades examined clearly pointed to a range of missions / concepts that will require ablative systems as well as a range for which reusable systems may be feasible. In addition, the results clearly indicated those entry conditions and modes suitable for manned flight, considering vehicle deceleration levels experienced during entry. This paper presents an overview of the analysis performed, including the assumptions, methods, and general approach used, as well as a summary of the trajectory and aerothermal environment information that was generated.
Robinson, Jeffrey S.↗
Vapor pressure of tektite glass and its bearing on tektite trajectories determined from aerodynamic analysis.
Aerodynamic analysis of vapor pressure of tektite glass and bearing on atmosphere entry trajectories of tektites
AERODYNAMIC HEATING↗
Trajectory design and navigation analysis for Cargo Transfer Vehicle proximity operations
The paper documents an investigation of alternative (or off-nominal) final approach trajectories and terminal guidance algorithms for Cargo Transfer Vehicle (CTV) automated rendezvous and proximity operation in the vicinity of Space Station Freedom (SSF). Ten candidate trajectory designs, representing a survey of all approaches that reasonably satisfy the mission constraints, are compared qualitatively and quantitatively. It is shown that several fundamentally different types of approach strategies are feasible in the CTV application and enjoy more favorable passive collision avoidance and plume impingement properties than the nominal. They are, however, generally more costly in propellant. The extent to which an alternative approach is more costly is determined largely by the abort (or specifically the 'hold' or 'wave-off') requirements. These approach techniques are verified in a software simulation using a parametrically defined candidate navigation system, and proximity sensor accuracy requirements are derived.
Marsh, S. M.↗
Trajectory Reconstruction and Uncertainty Analysis Using Mars Science Laboratory Pre-Flight Scale Model Aeroballistic Testing
As part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) trajectory reconstruction effort at NASA Langley Research Center, free-flight aeroballistic experiments of instrumented MSL scale models was conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The models carried an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a flush air data system (FADS) similar to the MSL Entry Atmospheric Data System (MEADS) that provided data types similar to those from the MSL entry. Multiple sources of redundant data were available, including tracking radar and on-board magnetometers. These experimental data enabled the testing and validation of the various tools and methodologies that will be used for MSL trajectory reconstruction. The aerodynamic parameters Mach number, angle of attack, and sideslip angle were estimated using minimum variance with a priori to combine the pressure data and pre-flight computational fluid dynamics (CFD) data. Both linear and non-linear pressure model terms were also estimated for each pressure transducer as a measure of the errors introduced by CFD and transducer calibration. Parameter uncertainties were estimated using a "consider parameters" approach.
Lugo, Rafael A.↗