Note: This post is adapted from my conference paper, which was presented at the 11th International ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems. You can read the full paper here. Abstract – Measuring Resilience Of Autonomous Controllers To Missed Thrust Events On A Mars To Earth Trajectory As spacecraft adopt low-thrust electric propulsion to reduce propellant mass,…
Note: This post is adapted from my journal paper, which was accepted to Aerospace Science and Technology in Spring 2021. You can read the full paper here Abstract – Designing Trajectories Resilient to Missed Thrust Events Using Expected Thrust Fraction With the adoption of efficient low-thrust propulsion methods, the probability of a missed thrust event…
Note: This post is adapted from my conference paper, that I presented at the Astrodynamics Specialists Conference in Summer 2020. You can read the full paper here. Abstract – Using Reinforcement Learning to Design Missed Thrust Resilient Trajectories From ion thrusters to solar sails, spacecraft continue to adopt new and more efficient forms of propulsion. As…
Note: This post is adapted from my journal paper, which was accepted to Acta Astronautica in Spring 2020. You can read the full paper here Abstract – Neural Network Optimal Control in Astrodynamics While high-efficiency propulsion techniques are enabling new mission concepts in deep space exploration, their limited thrust capabilities necessitate long thrusting arcs and…
Intro Last year we had a 2 part series on how to land on the moon using a suicide burn. There, the condition was that we could only turn on the engine once, and it had to be fully throttled. But most landers can control their thrust, so in this post we’re going to go…
A few weeks ago I attended the 2019 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialists Conference (ASC). This was my first major academic conference in grad school and I was there presenting on my research on using neural networks for optimal control with a special focus on their resilience to missed thrust events. Where Was I? The Astrodynamics Specialist…
Space is Hard From ionizing radiation to micrometeoroids, space is a dangerous place. Most spacecraft, when they feel threatened, can autonomously enter into a protective operating mode call safe mode. Different spacecraft do different things in safe mode, but most turn off all non-essential components, like propulsion and the payload, to focus all energy on…
