Project Description

Future mission objectives require innovative spacecraft trajectories that limit propellant consumption, mitigate hazardous environments, and meet other mission requirements. However, the relevant dynamics do not admit practical analytic solutions except in the most constrained circumstances, limiting a systematic understanding of available trajectory options. Numerical simulation and analysis techniques are therefore used to investigate potential trajectory options. Massively parallel propagations combined with techniques such as Poincare maps are used to gain insight into the underlying dynamics and trajectory options.

Topological data analysis has been used to greatly enhance the efficiency of mission designers, often revealing trajectory options that were previously unknown. However, these techniques have thus far seen only partial extension beyond constrained planar cases; systematic analysis techniques for fully three-dimensional motion remain elusive or limited in scope. Techniques for massively parallel computing, advanced visualization, and topological analysis will be developed to address 3D-motion and integrated into a unified software suite that will enable exploration of multifaceted trajectory trade spaces. This new capability for preliminary global assessment of available trajectory options will strongly complement existing tools that are able to iteratively refine local solutions, ultimately enabling the robotic space exploration.

Start Date

Summer 2021

Postdoc Qualifications

Background in aerospace applications and dynamical systems techniques. Some familiarity with visualization techniques and immersive environments is preferred.

Co-Advisors

 Kathleen Howell, howell@purdue.edu, https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAE/people/ptProfile?resource_id=1384

Xavier Tricoche, xmt@purdue.edu, xmt@purdue.edu

References

J. Stuart, et al., “Do You See What I See? Interactive Visualization of Mission Design and Navigation”, IAF 69th International Astronautical Congress, 2018, IAC-18, C1,8,12, x45307.

J. Stuart, K. Howell, and R. Wilson, “Design of End-To-End Trojan Asteroid Rendezvous Tours Incorporating Potential Scientific Value”, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 2016, Vol. 53, p. 278-288, 2016.

Schlei, W.R., Howell, K.C., Tricoche, X.M., and Garth, C., “Enhanced Visualization and Autonomous Extraction of Poincaré Topology,” Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, 2014, Vol. 61, Issue 2, pp. 170-197.

X. Tricoche, C. Garth and A. Sanderson, "Visualization of Topological Structures in Area-Preserving Maps," in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2011, vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 1765-1774.

D. Blackmore, A. Rosato, X. Tricoche, K. Urban, and L. Zuo, "Analysis, Simulation and Visualization of 1D Tapping via Reduced Dynamical Models," Physica D. Nonlinear phenomena, 2014, 273-274, 14-27.