An analytic proof is presented to show that the orbital transfer times of an earth-to-Mars solar-sail propelled spacecraft trajectory as calculated by Jayaraman (1980) are incorrect. In particular, different boundary conditions are defined, which indicate that a minimization of the Hamiltonian, which Jayaraman used, can yield the wrong stationary solution. Transfer times are calculated using a neighboring extremal algorithm based on numerical differentiation in conjunction with Krogh's variable order, variable step size integrator, resulting in a transfer time of 322 days at 2 mm/sec-sq, with endpoint restraints satisfied to within 1/1 billion. Finally, it is concluded that minimization of flight time is secondary in importance to maximization of delivered payload and minimization of overall mission cost and risk.


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    Title :

    Comment on 'Time-optimal orbit transfer trajectory for solar sail spacecraft'


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    1982-04-01


    Type of media :

    Miscellaneous


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English


    Keywords :


    Comment on Time-Optimal Orbit Transfer Trajectory for Solar Sail Spacecraft

    Lincoln J. Wood / Thomas P. Bauer / Keith P. Zondervan | AIAA | 1982



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