Comparison of two direct interplanetary trajectory optimization techniques
Abstract:
In this work, two direct methods of low-thrust trajectory optimization are implemented and compared. The first method is based on optimization of the thrust acceleration, whereas the second method optimizes the impulses that approximate the thrust arcs. The methods are applied to the sample problem of a transfer from the Earth to Mars. The results are obtained on a personal computer in MATLAB and on a multiprocessing computing system.
