B-Plane Resonant Flybys: Theory Extension to Elliptical Orbits and Dynamic Programming Application

What is it about?

In interplanetary space missions, the practice of passing close by a planet consecutive times is called "resonant flybys" and is commonly exploited to cost-effectively achieve various mission goals. We improve one of the models typically used for the preliminary design of resonant flyby trajectories by removing its underlying simplification of circular planetary orbits. We also propose an efficient algorithm able to quickly identify a reduced set of optimal trajectory solutions for a given design problem.

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