Note: This post is adapted from my conference paper, which was presented at the 2022 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialists Conference. You can read the full paper here. Abstract Low-thrust propulsion is an enabling factor for the next generation of deep space missions. Unfortunately, their limited thrust capabilities render long-duration thrusting arcs necessary. Any interruption to the thrust…
Note: This post is adapted from a journal paper I was a co-author on (my other Co-Authors, particularly Jared Sikes and James Pezent, deserve far more credit than I for both the GTOC solution and the paper), which was accepted to Acta Astronautica in Summer 2022. You can read the full paper here, or see my…
I got access to DALL-E and here are some things I generated with it.
I go over 5 astrodynamics textbooks I have on my shelf.
Pop Quiz! What’s 1 + (1e-16) -1? That’s easy you might say, it’s just 1e-16 We can check that with our favorite calculator (in my case that’s a TI-84 that I’ve had for way too long, but its easier to take screenshots of python) and we get Wait, that’s not right. What’s going on? (If…
Note: These ideas are worth what you pay for them. GPT-3 Enabled Plagarism Every few months there’s a new set of handwringing over plagiarism enabled by GPT-3. It’s been two years so that handwringing has even reached philosophy departments. Sarcastically, a voice inside me said “EZ, Just use GPT-3 to detect plagiarism”. Then, another voice inside me,…
Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment NASA’s CAPSTONE mission is a whole deep-space tech demonstrator packed into approximately 730 cubed inches. Even its acronym, CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment), does a whole lot in a small space. From leading our return to the moon to demonstrating exciting…
In an old post we went over the finite difference method, where we approximated the derivative of a function by sampling the function at multiple specific points, and then, as the name implies, taking the difference between these points. Finite differencing is both easy to understand and good enough for a lot of problems leading to…
Earlier this year I (successfully!) defended my dissertation titled “Design of Missed Thrust Resilient Trajectories Using Expected Thrust Fraction” and have now obtained my Doctorate of Philosophy. As, could have been expected, my dissertation was on Expected Thrust Fraction (Theory of Expected thrust fraction, an application to Mars Sample Return and Solar Sailing) Dissertation Abstract “Low-thrust…
Stuff Happens… In the tail end of 2021, SpaceX launched a commercial resupply mission to the ISS. That mission used Booster B1069, which landed successfully on the drone ship. Unfortunately, by the time it returned to port, something had happened, damaging most of the engines and likely requiring at least significant repairs. This led to…
