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Schedule including this lecture.
Goddard Space Flight Center Engineering Colloquium
Date: Monday, November 20, 2000
A number of space missions have recently been proposed that aim to take advantage of the growing scientific interest in the regions of space near the libration points in the Sun Earth/Moon system. However, accomplishment of many short- and long-term science and exploration goals will require innovative spacecraft trajectory concepts, which, in turn, implies that more efficient design techniques for analysis and new philosophies for design must be considered; a more complete understanding of the solution space is imperative. Baseline concepts for such missions must exploit the rich dynamics in this region of space. One goal, then, is a clearer understanding of the fundamental dynamics associated with the trajectory design problem, particularly in multi-body regimes, where qualitative information is needed concerning sets of solutions and their evolution. A key component in progress toward that objective is a problem formulation from the perspective of nonlinear dynamical systems theory. Invariant manifolds have already served as a guide to the geometry of the phase space in the three-body problem and as a basis for the generation of natural pathways near the libration points. But, the primary objective is to use this information for trajectory design. Currently scheduled missions, such as GENESIS and Triana, offer an opportunity to demonstrate the usefulness of dynamical systems in initiating trajectory design. Besides the baseline design, however, the geometrical insight supports other aspects of the problem such as maneuver analysis studies as well as stationkeeping and formation flying.
Dr. Kathleen Howell earned her B.S. degree in Aerospace engineering from Iowa State University; her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering are from Stanford University. Dr. Howell is presently a Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana; she has been a member of the faculty at Purdue since 1982. In that capacity, she maintains an active research program in the areas of spacecraft trajectory design and optimization as well as maneuver strategies for transfers and on-orbit operations. As a Principal Investigator, Dr. Howell has obtained numerous grants and received various awards related to her research program including recognition as a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator.
Colloquium Committee Sponsor: Lloyd Purves
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