Skip entry trajectory planning and guidance

Abstract

This work would not have been as successful without the superb guidance of Professor Ping Lu. His knowledge and motivational factors contributed greatly to the development of the skip guidance algorithm. Throughout the development process, the discussions held with him were of fundamental importance in resolving key issues. The computational resources provided greatly sped up extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Professor Lu made excellent suggestions in choosing coursework, that provided additional ideas for the development of the algorithm. The author would also like to the program of study committee for their helpful ideas for improving this dissertation. Many thanks to the bevy of graduate students who provided answers to questions, helpful suggestions, help with the L A T E Xwriting, and general camaraderie. These students include

An improved predictor–corrector entry guidance method for hypersonic flight vehicle

“…The basic predictor-corrector method calculates each moment that can enable the entry vehicle's terminal distance to meet its constraint (see Brunner and Lu 8 for details on its principles).…”

“…Due to the above merits, this method has gone through a great and chronological development. Gamble et al, 1 Braun and Powell, 2 Powell, 3 Fuhry, 4 Kaluzhskikh and Sikharulidze, 5 Putnam et al, 6 Lu, 7 and Brunner and Lu 8 present a series of representative literatures studying in predictor-corrector entry guidance method. All these methods base on a similar fundamental algorithm which is to eliminate the errors of range-to-go in every guidance cycle, while their differences mainly lie in the ways when they deal with the path constraints and other details.…”

Blended skip entry guidance for low-lifting lunar return vehicles

“…Simulations indicate that the state at the second entry is susceptible to off-nominal conditions, such as mass bias, atmospheric uncertainties and aerodynamic characteristic mispredictions, arising from a longtime Keplerian flight [4,7,8]. For this reason, the simplified analytical predictor-corrector (APC) algorithm used in the Apollo program is no longer available when the range exceeds 4 600 km [4].…”

“…For this reason, the simplified analytical predictor-corrector (APC) algorithm used in the Apollo program is no longer available when the range exceeds 4 600 km [4]. Previous contributions demonstrated that numerical predictor-corrector (NPC) algorithm could achieve the required range capability without the necessity of making any simplification [4][5][6][7][8]. The design philosophy of the NPC algorithm is to obtain a bank angle profile that can guide the vehicle to meet terminal conditions [3].…”

“…Extensive analyses show that skip entry trajectory can satisfy this requirement. In this regard, the vehicle would experience an exo-atmospheric phase before a second entry and hence fly a long range [4][5][6][7][8].…”