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Three-dimensional trajectory optimization of soft lunar landings from the parking orbit with considerations of the landing site

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Abstract

Minimum fuel, three-dimensional trajectory optimization from a parking orbit considering the desired landing site is addressed for soft lunar landings. The landing site is determined by the final longitude and latitude; therefore, a two-dimensional approach is limited and a three-dimensional approach is required. In addition, the landing site is not usually considered when performing lunar landing trajectory optimizations, but should be considered in order to design more accurate and realistic lunar landing trajectories. A Legendre pseudospectral (PS) method is used to discretize the trajectory optimization problem as a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem. Because the lunar landing consists of three phases including a de-orbit burn, a transfer orbit phase, and a powered descent phase, the lunar landing problem is regarded as a multiphase problem. Thus, a PS knotting method is also used to manage the multiphase problem, and C code for Feasible Sequential Quadratic Programming (CFSQP) using a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm is employed as a numerical solver after formulating the problem as an NLP problem. The optimal solutions obtained satisfy all constraints as well as the desired landing site, and the solutions are verified through a feasibility check.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace Engineering, KAIST, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseonggu, Daejon, 305-701, Korea

    Bong-Gyun Park & Min-Jea Tahk

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  1. Bong-Gyun Park
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  2. Min-Jea Tahk
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Correspondence to Min-Jea Tahk.

Additional information

Recommended by Editor Hyun Seok Yang.

This work was supported by NSL (National Space Lab) program through the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2008-2003184).

Bong-Gyun Park received his B.S. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Gyeongsang National University in 2008. He received his M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from KAIST in 2010. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering from KAIST. His research interests include trajectory optimization, missile guidance, and terrain relative navigation.

Min-Jea Tahk received his B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Seoul National University in 1976, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, in 1983 and 1986, respectively. He was a Researcher Engineer at the Agency for Defense Development, Daejeon, Korea, from 1976 to 1981, and Research Scientist at Integrated Systems, Inc., Santa Clara, CA, from 1987 to 1989. He is presently a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering of KAIST. His research interests include missile guidance, pursuit-evasion games, autopilot design, collision avoidance, and evolutionary optimization techniques.

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Park, BG., Tahk, MJ. Three-dimensional trajectory optimization of soft lunar landings from the parking orbit with considerations of the landing site. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 9, 1164–1172 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-011-0618-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-011-0618-0

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