AAS 97-727
MINIMUM Delta-V DEFLECTING EARTH-CROSSING ASTEROIDS
Sang-Young Park, J.T. Elder and I.M. Ross - Naval Postgraduate School
Abstract
We present a formulation of a finite-dimensional optimization problem associated with the deflection of Earth-Crossing Asteroids. The performance measure is minimizing the delta-V requirement for achieving a minimum target separation distance. A number of astrodynamical constraints are identified and modeled. The constrained optimization problem is numerically solved using a sequential quadratic programming method. Our numerical analysis indicates that the minimum delta-V requirement is not a monotonically decreasing function of the warning time; rather, there is a finer structure associated with the orbital period of the colliding asteroid. Computations performed for the asteroid Toutatis illustrate these points.