Abstract
To meet the requirements of the Tianwen-1 mission, adaptive entry guidance for entry vehicles, with low lift-to-drag ratios, limited control authority, and large initial state bias, was presented. Typically, the entry guidance law is divided into four distinct phases: trim angle-of-attack phase, range control phase, heading alignment phase, and trim-wing deployment phase. In the range control phase, the predictor—corrector guidance algorithm is improved by planning an on-board trajectory based on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) entry guidance algorithm. The nominal trajectory was designed and described using a combination of the downrange value and other states, such as drag acceleration and altitude rate. For a large initial state bias, the nominal downrange value was modified onboard by weighing the landing accuracy, control authority, and parachute deployment altitude. The biggest advantage of this approach is that it allows the successful correction of altitude errors and the avoidance of control saturation. An overview of the optimal trajectory design process, including a discussion of the design of the initial flight path angle, relevant event trigger, and transition conditions between the four phases, was also presented. Finally, telemetry data analysis and post-flight assessment results were used to illustrate the adaptive guidance law, create good conditions for subsequent parachute reduction and power reduction processes, and gauge the success of the mission.
![](http://media.springernature.com/lw685/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs42064-021-0120-2/MediaObjects/42064_2021_120_Fig1_HTML.jpg)
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- AOA:
-
angle of attack (rad)
- CR:
-
crossrange
- DR:
-
downrange
- EFPA:
-
entry flight path angle
- EI:
-
entry interface
- GNC:
-
guidance, navigation, and control
- IMU:
-
inertial measurement unit
- L/D :
-
current ratio of lift-to-drag
- β :
-
ballistic coefficient
References
Mendeck, G. F., Craig, L. E. Entry guidance for the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory mission. In: Proceedings of the AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, 2011: AIAA 2011-6639.
Shui, Z., Zhou, J., Ge, Z. On-line predictor-corrector reentry guidance law based on Guass pseudospectral method. Journal of Astronautics, 2011, 32(6): 42–46.
Tu, K. Y., Munir, M. S., Mease, K. D., Bayard, D. S. Drag-based predictive tracking guidance for Mars precision landing. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2000, 23(4): 620–628.
Hu, J. Adaptive predictive guidance: a unified guidance method. Aerospace Control and Application, 2019, 45(4): 53–63. (in Chinese)
Guo, M., Li, M., Huang, X., Wang, D. On guidance algorithm for Martian atmospheric entry in nonconforming terminal constraints. Journal of Deep Space Exploration, 2017, 4(2): 184–189. (in Chinese)
Leavitt, J. A., Mease, K. D. Feasible trajectory generation for atmospheric entry guidance. Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, 2007, 30(2): 473–481.
Way, D. W., Powell, R. W., Chen, A., Steltzner, A. D., Martin, A. M. S., Burkhart, P. D., Mendeck, G. F. Mars Science Laboratory: Entry, descent, and landing system performance. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2006.
Kluever, C. A. Entry guidance performance for Mars precision landing. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2008, 31(6): 1537–1544.
Roenneke, A. Adaptive on-board guidance for entry vehicles. In: Proceedings of the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit, 2001: AIAA 2001-4048.
Luo, T., Hu, J. Adaptive control method based on standard ballistic guidance law. Aerospace Control and Application, 2014, 40(2): 42–46. (in Chinese)
Benito, J., Mease, K. D. Mars entry guidance with improved altitude control. In: Proceedings of the AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit, 2006: AIAA 2006-6674.
Zhao, H. Dynamics and Guidance for Reentry Vehicles. Changsha: Press of National University of Defense Technology, 1997. (in Chinese)
Cruz, J. R., Way, D., Shidner, J., Davis, J. L., Powell, R. W., Kipp, D., Adams, D. S., Sengupta, A., Witkowski, A., Kandis, M. Parachute models used in the Mars science laboratory entry, descent, and landing simulation. In: Proceedings of the AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Conference, 2013: AIAA 2013-1276.
Li, M., Huang, X., Wang, D., Xu, C., Guo, M., Hu, J., Zhang, X. Radar-updated inertial landing navigation with online initialization. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 2020, 56(5): 3360–3374.
Zhang, H., Guan, Y., Huang, X., Li, J., Zhao, Y., Yu, P., Zhang, X., Yang, W., Liang, J., Wang, D. Guidance navigation and control for Chang’E-3 powered descent. Scientia Sinica Technologica, 2014, 44(4): 377–384. (in Chinese)
Carman, G. L., Ives, D. G., Geller, D. K. Apollo-derived Mars precision lander guidance. In: Proceedings of the AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, 1998: 98–4570.
Mendeck, G., Carman, G. Guidance design for Mars smart landers using the entry terminal point controller. AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, 2002: AIAA 2002-4502.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Minwen Guo received her Ph.D. degree in guidance, navigation, and control from China Academy of Space Technology in 2014. Then, she worked as an engineer at Beijing Institute of Control Engineering. From 2016 to 2021, she participated in the Mars Tianwen-1 development and was engaged in the design of the Martian atmosphere entry guidance law. In 2019, she was certified as a senior engineer. Currently, her research interests are spacecraft entry guidance and trajectory optimization. E-mail: mwguo8500@163.com.
Xiangyu Huang received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, China, in 1999 and 2005, respectively. Since August 2005, he has been with Science and Technology on Space Intelligent Control Laboratory of Beijing Institute of Control Engineering (BICE), where he is currently a professor and senior research specialist. He was a guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) engineer of the Chang’e-3 lunar landing mission, and his current research area is GNC design for planetary landing missions. He won one State Technological Invention Award (second prize) and three Ministerial and Provincial-level Science and Technology Awards (first class). E-mail: huangxyhit@sina.com.
Maodeng Li received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, China, in 2006 and 2011, respectively. From September 2011 to August 2013, he was a postdoctoral research associate in BICE. Since August 2013, he has been with Science and Technology on Space Intelligent Control Laboratory of BICE as a senior engineer. His current research areas include spacecraft autonomous navigation and GNC design for planetary landing missions. E-mail: mdeng1985@gmail.com.
Jinchang Hu received his B.S., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees from Beihang University, Tsinghua University, and Beijing Institute of Control Engineering, respectively. He is currently a senior engineer at Beijing Institute of Control Engineering. His main research interests include spacecraft attitude and orbit control. E-mail: hujinchang@tsinghua.org.cn.
Chao Xu received his B.S. degree from Beihang University, China, in 2010 and then received his M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in guidance, navigation, and control from China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), China, in 2013 and 2017, respectively. He is currently working as an engineer at Beijing Institute of Control Engineering (BICE), China. His research interests include autonomous navigation, vision-aided navigation, and simultaneous localization and mapping. E-mail: xc_1987@126.com.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Guo, M., Huang, X., Li, M. et al. Adaptive entry guidance for the Tianwen-1 mission. Astrodyn 6, 17–26 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42064-021-0120-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42064-021-0120-2