Application of Hamiltonian structure-preserving control to formation flying on a J 2-perturbed mean circular orbit

The bounded quasi-periodic relative trajectories are investigated in this paper for on-orbit surveillance, inspection or repair, which requires rapid changes in formation configuration for full three-dimensional imaging and unpredictable evolutions of relative trajectories for non-allied spacecraft. A linearized differential equation for modeling J ₂ perturbed relative dynamics is derived without any simplified treatment of full short-period effects. The equation serves as a nominal reference model for stationkeeping controller to generate the quasi-periodic trajectories near the equilibrium, i.e., the location of the chief. The developed model exhibits good numerical accuracy and is applicable to an elliptic orbit with small eccentricity inheriting from the osculating conversion of orbital elements. A Hamiltonian structure-preserving controller is derived for the three-dimensional time-periodic system that models the J ₂-perturbed relative dynamics on a mean circular orbit. The equilibrium of the system has time-varying topological types and no fixed-dimensional unstable/stable/center manifolds, which are quite different from the two-dimensional time-independent system with a permanent pair of hyperbolic eigenvalues and fixed-dimensions of unstable/stable/ center manifolds. The unstable and stable manifolds are employed to change the hyperbolic equilibrium to elliptic one with the poles assigned on the imaginary axis. The detailed investigations are conducted on the critical controller gain for Floquet stability and the optimal gain for the fuel cost, respectively. Any initial relative position and velocity leads to a bounded trajectory around the controlled elliptic equilibrium. The numerical simulation indicates that the controller effectively stabilizes motions relative to the perturbed elliptic orbit with small eccentricity and unperturbed elliptic orbit with arbitrary eccentricity. The developed controller stabilizes the quasi-periodic relative trajectories involved in six foundational motions with different frequencies generated by the eigenvectors of the Floquet multipliers, rather than to track a reference relative configuration. Only the relative positions are employed for the feedback without the information from the direct measurement or the filter estimation of relative velocity. So the current controller has potential applications in formation flying for its less computation overload for on-board computer, less constraint on the measurements, and easily-achievable quasi-periodic relative trajectories.     

The Evolution of the Stable and Unstable Manifold of an Equilibrium Point

We consider the evolution of the stable and unstable manifolds of an equilibrium point of a Hamiltonian system of two degrees of freedom which depends on a parameter,ν. The eigenvalues of the linearized system are complex for ν < 0 and purely imaginary for ν > 0. Thus for ν < 0 the equilibrium has a two‐dimensional stable manifold and a two‐dimensional unstable manifold, but for ν > 0 these stable and unstable manifolds are gone. We study the system defined by the truncated generic normal form in this situation. One of two things happens depending on the sign of a certain quantity in the normal form expansion. In one case the two families detach as a single invariant manifold and recedes from the equilibrium as ν tends away from 0 through positive values. In the other case the stable and unstable manifold are globally connected for ν < 0 and the whole structure of these manifolds shrinks to the equilibrium as ν → 0 and disappears. These considerations have interesting implications about Strömgren's conjecture in celestial mechanics and the blue sky catastrophe of Devaney.     

The use of invariant manifolds for transfers between unstable periodic orbits of different energies

Techniques from dynamical systems theory have been applied to the construction of transfers between unstable periodic orbits that have different energies. Invariant manifolds, trajectories that asymptotically depart or approach unstable periodic orbits, are used to connect the initial and final orbits. The transfer asymptotically departs the initial orbit on a trajectory contained within the initial orbit’s unstable manifold and later asymptotically approaches the final orbit on a trajectory contained within the stable manifold of the final orbit. The manifold trajectories are connected by the execution of impulsive maneuvers. Two-body parameters dictate the selection of the individual manifold trajectories used to construct efficient transfers. A bounding sphere centered on the secondary, with a radius less than the sphere of influence of the secondary, is used to study the manifold trajectories. A two-body parameter, κ, is computed within the bounding sphere, where the gravitational effects of the secondary dominate. The parameter κ is defined as the sum of two quantities: the difference in the normalized angular momentum vectors and eccentricity vectors between a point on the unstable manifold and a point on the stable manifold. It is numerically demonstrated that as the κ parameter decreases, the total cost to complete the transfer decreases. Preliminary results indicate that this method of constructing transfers produces a significant cost savings over methods that do not employ the use of invariant manifolds.     

Optimal transfers between unstable periodic orbits using invariant manifolds

This paper presents a method to construct optimal transfers between unstable periodic orbits of differing energies using invariant manifolds. The transfers constructed in this method asymptotically depart the initial orbit on a trajectory contained within the unstable manifold of the initial orbit and later, asymptotically arrive at the final orbit on a trajectory contained within the stable manifold of the final orbit. Primer vector theory is applied to a transfer to determine the optimal maneuvers required to create the bridging trajectory that connects the unstable and stable manifold trajectories. Transfers are constructed between unstable periodic orbits in the Sun–Earth, Earth–Moon, and Jupiter-Europa three-body systems. Multiple solutions are found between the same initial and final orbits, where certain solutions retrace interior portions of the trajectory. All transfers created satisfy the conditions for optimality. The costs of transfers constructed using manifolds are compared to the costs of transfers constructed without the use of manifolds. In all cases, the total cost of the transfer is significantly lower when invariant manifolds are used in the transfer construction. In many cases, the transfers that employ invariant manifolds are three times more efficient, in terms of fuel expenditure, than the transfer that do not. The decrease in transfer cost is accompanied by an increase in transfer time of flight.     

On the effect of the eccentricity of a planetary orbit on the stability of satellite orbits

The effect of the eccentricity of a planet’s orbit on the stability of the orbits of its satellites is studied. The model used is the elliptic Hill case of the planar restricted three-body problem. The linear stability of all the known families of periodic orbits of the problem is computed. No stable orbits are found, the majority of them possessing one or two pairs of real eigenvalues of the monodromy matrix, while a part of a family with complex instability is found. Two families of periodic orbits, bifurcating from the Lagrangian points L₁, L₂ of the corresponding circular case are found analytically. These orbits are very unstable and the determination of their stability coefficients is not accurate, so we compute the largest Liapunov exponent in their vicinity. In all cases these exponents are positive, indicating the existence of chaotic motions     

Analysis of the neighborhood of the 2: 1 resonance in the equal-mass three-body problem

We consider the trajectories in the neighborhood of a 2: 1 resonance (in periods of osculating motions of the outer and inner binaries) in the plane equal-mass three-body problem. We identified the zones of motions that are stable on limited time intervals. All of them correspond to the retrograde motions of the outer and inner subsystems. The prograde motions are unstable: the triple system breaks up into a final binary and an escaping component. In the barycentric nonrotating coordinate system, the trajectories occasionally form symmetric structures composed of several leaves. These structures persist for a long time, and, subsequently, the trajectories of the bodies fill compact regions in coordinate space.     

Regular and chaotic motion in softened gravitational systems

The stability of the dynamical trajectories of softened spherical gravitational systems is examined, both in the case of the full N -body problem and that of trajectories moving in the gravitational field of non-interacting background particles. In the latter case, for   N 10 000  , some trajectories, even if unstable, had exceedingly long diffusion times, which correlated with the characteristic e-folding time-scale of the instability. For trajectories of   N ≈100 000  systems this time-scale could be arbitrarily large – and thus appear to correspond to regular orbits. For centrally concentrated systems, low angular momentum trajectories were found to be systematically more unstable. This phenomenon is analogous to the well-known case of trajectories in generic centrally concentrated non-spherical smooth systems, where eccentric trajectories are found to be chaotic. The exponentiation times also correlate with the conservation of the angular momenta along the trajectories. For N up to a few hundred, the instability time-scales of N -body systems and their variation with particle number are similar to those of the most chaotic trajectories in inhomogeneous non-interacting systems. For larger N (up to a few thousand) the values of the these time-scales were found to saturate, increasing significantly more slowly with N . We attribute this to collective effects in the fully self-gravitating problem, which are apparent in the time variations of the time-dependent Liapunov exponents. The results presented here go some way towards resolving the long-standing apparent paradoxes concerning the local instability of trajectories. This now appears to be a manifestation of mechanisms driving evolution in gravitational systems and their interactions – and may thus be a useful diagnostic of such processes.     

Numerical determination of Lissajous trajectories in the restricted three-body problem

In previous studies, Lissajous trajectories associated with the collinear libration points in the restricted three-body problem have been successfully computed analytically to at least third-order. Those approximations are utilized to determine such trajectories numerically for an arbitrary, predetermined number of revolutions in the rotating frame, for the case of circular primary motion. The numerical approach first identifies target positions at specified intervals along the trajectory and locates a continuous path through those points with velocity discontinuities. Then the v are simultaneously reduced in an iterative process. Such trajectories have been constructed in various primary systems, for a wide range of orbit sizes and a large number of revolutions.     

Linear stability and shape analysis of spinning three-craft Coulomb formations

This paper describes the discovery of families of multiple invariant shape solutions for collinear three-craft Coulomb formations with set charges, as well as the results of linear stability analysis on such formations. The charged spacecraft are assumed to be spinning about each other in deep space without relevant gravitational forces present. Up to three invariant shape solutions are possible for a single set of craft charges. This behavior, only speculated in previous work, is confirmed through analysis and numerical simulation examples. In fact, distinct regions are analytically described where two or three invariant shape solutions exist for a single charge set. These regions are analyzed to determine what range of trajectories are possible. Linear stability analysis for circular trajectories yields the first examples of marginally stable three-craft invariant shape formations. Linearly stable behavior is only observed when two invariant shape solutions result for one set of charges, where one shape will be unstable and the other marginally stable. Numerical simulation illustrates stability for ten orbital periods when perturbations are confined to the orbital plane. When out of plane motion is considered the shapes are found to be weakly unstable, though the out of plane motion appears to be decoupled from in plane motion to first order.     

Search for and study of nearly periodic orbits in the plane problem of three equal-mass bodies

We analyze nearly periodic solutions in the plane problem of three equal-mass bodies by numerically simulating the dynamics of triple systems. We identify families of orbits in which all three points are on one straight line (syzygy) at the initial time. In this case, at fixed total energy of a triple system, the set of initial conditions is a bounded region in four-dimensional parameter space. We scan this region and identify sets of trajectories in which the coordinates and velocities of all bodies are close to their initial values at certain times (which are approximately multiples of the period). We classify the nearly periodic orbits by the structure of trajectory loops over one period. We have found the families of orbits generated by von Schubart’s stable periodic orbit revealed in the rectilinear three-body problem. We have also found families of hierarchical, nearly periodic trajectories with prograde and retrograde motions. In the orbits with prograde motions, the trajectory loops of two close bodies form looplike structures. The trajectories with retrograde motions are characterized by leafed structures. Orbits with central and axial symmetries are identified among the families found.     

The chaotic rotation of Hyperion

A plot of spin rate versus orientation when Hyperion is at the pericenter of its orbit (surface of section) reveals a large chaotic zone surrounding the synchronous spin-orbit state of Hyperion, if the satellite is assumed to be rotating about a principal axis which is normal to its orbit plane. This means that Hyperion's rotation in this zone exhibits large, essentially random variations on a short time scale. The chaotic zone is so large that it surrounds the ½ and 2 states, and libration in the 3/2 state is not possible. Stability analysis shows that for libration in the synchronous and ½ states, the orientation of the spin axis normal to the orbit plane is unstable, whereas rotation in the 2 state is attitude stable. Rotation in the chaotic zone is also attitude unstable. A small deviation of the principal axis from the orbit normal leads to motion through all angles in both the chaotic zone and the attitude unstable libration regions. Measures of the exponential rate of separation of nearby trajectories in phase space (Lyapunov characteristic exponents) for these three-dimensional motions indicate the the tumbling is chaotic and not just a regular motion through large angles. As tidal dissipation drives Hyperion's spin toward a nearly synchronous value, Hyperion necessarily enters the large chaotic zone. At this point Hyperion becomes attitude unstable and begins to tumble. Capture from the chaotic state into the synchronous or ½ state is impossible since they are also attitude unstable. The 3/2 state does not exist. Capture into the stable 2 state is possible, but improbable. It is expected that Hyperion will be found tumbling chaotically.     

A numerical investigation of the one-dimensional newtonian three-body problem

Numerical orbit integrations have been conducted to characterize the types of trajectories in the one-dimensional Newtonian three-body problem with equal masses and negative energy. Essentially three different types of motions were found to exist. They may be classified according to the duration of the bound three-body state. There are zero-lifetime predictable trajectories, finite lifetime apparently chaotic orbits, and infinite lifetime quasi-periodic motions. The quasi-periodic orbits are confined to the neighbourhood of Schubart's stable periodic orbit. For all other trajectories the final state is of the type binary + single particle in both directions of time. The boundaries of the different orbit-type regions seem to be sharp. We present statistical results for the binding energies and for the duration of the bound three-body state. Properties of individual orbits are also summarized in the form of various graphical maps in a two-dimensional grid of parameters defining the orbit. Supported by the Academy of Finland.     

Cylindrical isomorphic mapping applied to invariant manifold dynamics for Earth–Moon Missions

Several families of periodic orbits exist in the context of the circular restricted three-body problem. This work studies orbital motion of a spacecraft among these periodic orbits in the Earth–Moon system, using the planar circular restricted three-body problem model. A new cylindrical representation of the spacecraft phase space (i.e., position and velocity) is described, and allows representing periodic orbits and the related invariant manifolds. In the proximity of the libration points, the manifolds form a four-fold surface, if the cylindrical coordinates are employed. Orbits departing from the Earth and transiting toward the Moon correspond to the trajectories located inside this four-fold surface. The isomorphic mapping under consideration is also useful for describing the topology of the invariant manifolds, which exhibit a complex geometrical stretch-and-folding behavior as the associated trajectories reach increasing distances from the libration orbit. Moreover, the cylindrical representation reveals extremely useful for detecting periodic orbits around the primaries and the libration points, as well as the possible existence of heteroclinic connections. These are asymptotic trajectories that are ideally traveled at zero-propellant cost. This circumstance implies the possibility of performing concretely a variety of complex Earth–Moon missions, by combining different types of trajectory arcs belonging to the manifolds. This work studies also the possible application of manifold dynamics to defining a suitable, convenient end-of-life strategy for spacecraft placed in any of the unstable orbits. The final disposal orbit is an externally confined trajectory, never approaching the Earth or the Moon, and can be entered by means of a single velocity impulse (of modest magnitude) along the right unstable manifold that emanates from the Lyapunov orbit at \(L_2\) .     

Reduction and relative equilibria for the two-body problem on spaces of constant curvature

We consider the two-body problem on surfaces of constant nonzero curvature and classify the relative equilibria and their stability. On the hyperbolic plane, for each \(q>0\) we show there are two relative equilibria where the masses are separated by a distance q. One of these is geometrically of elliptic type and the other of hyperbolic type. The hyperbolic ones are always unstable, while the elliptic ones are stable when sufficiently close, but unstable when far apart. On the sphere of positive curvature, if the masses are different, there is a unique relative equilibrium (RE) for every angular separation except \(\pi /2\). When the angle is acute, the RE is elliptic, and when it is obtuse the RE can be either elliptic or linearly unstable. We show using a KAM argument that the acute ones are almost always nonlinearly stable. If the masses are equal, there are two families of relative equilibria: one where the masses are at equal angles with the axis of rotation (‘isosceles RE’) and the other when the two masses subtend a right angle at the centre of the sphere. The isosceles RE are elliptic if the angle subtended by the particles is acute and is unstable if it is obtuse. At \(\pi /2\), the two families meet and a pitchfork bifurcation takes place. Right-angled RE are elliptic away from the bifurcation point. In each of the two geometric settings, we use a global reduction to eliminate the group of symmetries and analyse the resulting reduced equations which live on a five-dimensional phase space and possess one Casimir function.     

Mars interplanetary trajectory design via Lagrangian points

With the increase in complexities of interplanetary missions, the main focus has shifted to reducing the total delta-V for the entire mission and hence increasing the payload capacity of the spacecraft. This paper develops a trajectory to Mars using the Lagrangian points of the Sun-Earth system and the Sun-Mars system. The whole trajectory can be broadly divided into three stages: (1) Trajectory from a near-Earth circular parking orbit to a halo orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrangian point L₂. (2) Trajectory from Sun-Earth L₂ halo orbit to Sun-Mars L₁ halo orbit. (3) Sun-Mars L₁ halo orbit to a circular orbit around Mars. The stable and unstable manifolds of the halo orbits are used for halo orbit insertion. The intermediate transfer arcs are designed using two-body Lambert’s problem. The total delta-V for the whole trajectory is computed and found to be lesser than that for the conventional trajectories. For a 480 km Earth parking orbit, the total delta-V is found to be 4.6203 km/s. Another advantage in the present approach is that delta-V does not depend upon the synodic period of Earth with respect to Mars.     

Stability of the planar full 2-body problem

The stability of the Full Two-Body Problem is studied in the case where both bodies are non-spherical, but are restricted to planar motion. The mutual potential is expanded up to second order in the mass moments, yielding a highly symmetric yet non-trivial dynamical system. For this system we identify all relative equilibria and determine their stability properties, with an emphasis on finding the energetically stable relative equilibria and conditions for Hill stability of the system. The energetically stable relative equilibria always correspond to the classical “gravity gradient” configuration with the long ends of the two bodies pointed at each other, however there always exists a second equilibrium in this configuration at a closer separation that is unstable. For our model system we precisely map out the relations between these different configurations at a given value of angular momentum. This analysis identifies the fundamental physical constraints and limitations that exist on such systems, and has immediate applications to the stability of asteroid systems that are fissioned due to a rapid spin rate. Specifically, we find that all contact binary asteroids which are spun to fission will initially lie in an unstable dynamical state and can always re-impact. If the total system energy is positive, the fissioned system can disrupt directly from this relative equilibrium, while if it is negative the system is bound together.     

A two-level perturbation method for connecting unstable periodic orbits with low fuel cost and short time of flight: application to a lunar observation mission

The proposed method connects two unstable periodic orbits by employing trajectories of their associated invariant manifolds that are perturbed in two levels. A first level of velocity perturbations is applied on the trajectories of the discretized manifolds at the points where they approach the nominal unstable periodic orbit in order to accelerate them. A second level of structured velocity perturbations is applied to trajectories that have already been subjected to first level perturbations in order to approximately meet the necessary conditions for a low \(\varDelta \text {V}\) transfer. Due to this two-level perturbation approach, the number of the trajectories obtained is significantly larger compared with approaches that employ traditional invariant manifolds. For this reason, the problem of connecting two unstable periodic orbits through perturbed trajectories of their manifolds is transformed into an equivalent discrete optimization problem that is solved with a very low computational complexity algorithm that is proposed in this paper. Finally, the method is applied to a lunar observation mission of practical interest and is found to perform considerably better in terms of \(\varDelta \text {V}\) cost and time of flight when compared with previous techniques applied to the same project.     

Escape from planetary neighbourhoods

In this paper we use recently developed phase-space transport theory coupled with a so-called classical spectral theorem to develop a dynamically exact and computationally efficient procedure for studying escape from a planetary neighbourhood. The 'planetary neighbourhood' is a bounded region of phase space where entrance and escape are only possible by entering or exiting narrow 'bottlenecks' created by the influence of a saddle point. The method therefore immediately applies to, for example, the circular restricted three-body problem and Hill's lunar problem (which we use to illustrate the results), but it also applies to more complex, and higher-dimensional, systems possessing the relevant phase-space structure. It is shown how one can efficiently compute the mean passage time through the planetary neighbourhood, the phase-space flux in, and out, of the planetary neighbourhood, the phase-space volume of initial conditions corresponding to trajectories that escape from the planetary neighbourhood, and the fraction of initial conditions in the planetary neighbourhood corresponding to bound trajectories. These quantities are computed for Hill's problem. We study the dependence of the proportions of these quantities on energy and dimensionality (two-dimensional planar and three-dimensional spatial Hill's problem). The methods and quantities presented are of central interest for many celestial and stellar dynamical applications such as, for example, the capture and escape of moons near giant planets, the formation of binaries in the Kuiper belt and the escape of stars from star clusters orbiting about a galaxy.     

Comparison of low-energy lunar transfer trajectories to invariant manifolds

In this study, transfer trajectories from the Earth to the Moon that encounter the Moon at various flight path angles are examined, and lunar approach trajectories are compared to the invariant manifolds of selected unstable orbits in the circular restricted three-body problem. Previous work focused on lunar impact and landing trajectories encountering the Moon normal to the surface, and this research extends the problem with different flight path angles in three dimensions. The lunar landing geometry for a range of Jacobi constants is computed, and approaches to the Moon via invariant manifolds from unstable orbits are analyzed for different energy levels.     

Free Return Trajectories in Lunar Missions

Four types of symmetric free return trajectories in the planar circular restricted three-body problem are computed and compared with each other. One of these four types is most applicable in practice. Concentrating ourselves on this special type of free return trajectory, the corresponding planar asymmetric cases are studied. Then the studies are generalized to the three-dimensional case. The restrictions on the inclination angle of the probe at the perilune are discussed. It is found that the maximum inclination at the perilune between the probe's orbit plane and the Moon's orbit plane is restricted by the heights of the perigee and the perilune of the free return trajectory. However, the inclination at the perigee is nearly not affected by them. At last, a strategy to design free return trajectories in the real Earth-Moon system is proposed. Some numerical simulations are done to show the feasibility of this orbit design strategy. The discussions from the planar case to the spatial case and then to the real force model can also be applied to the other three types of planar free return trajectories.