Major difficulty in calculus-of-variations applications to trajectory optimization is necessity of guessing values of Lagrangian multiplier functions for numerical solution of resultant two-point boundary-value problem; guessing may be eliminated by use of λ i(0) from impulsive trajectories to initiate iteration for nonimpulsive fixed-thrust, fixed-exhaust velocity propulsion; numerical results for thrust-accelerations and exhaust velocities representative of chemical to electric engines, for various interplanetary missions, are compared with published results using gradient, generalized Newton-Raphson, and variational-calculus methods.
Optimal free-space fixed-thrust trajectories using impulsive trajectories as starting iteratives
AIAA J
AIAA Journal ; 4 , n 6
1966
6 pages
Article (Journal)
English
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