AAS 95-307

Design of High-Accuracy Multiple Flyby Trajectories Using Constrained Optimization

D. V. Byrnes and L. E. Bright, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Abstract

Over the past two decades the extremely difficult problem of efficiently finding optimal trajectories with multiple gravitating bodies has frequently been addressed. The technique described in this paper provides distinct advantages over previous formulations. The trajectories are numerically integrated without a requirement for solutions of multiple boundary value problems. A novel method of splitting the trajectory into independent legs subject to constrained optimization is described. Each leg is independently specified by a convenient set of parameters. Any parameter may then be constrained. The nonlinear optimization problem is solved as a sequence of linear problems. Examples for several deep space missions are given.