Optimum Interplanetary Rendezvous With Power-Limited Vehicles

The optimum thrust programs for power-limited propulsion systems are used to generate rendezvous trajectories from Earth to Mars for various flight times and launch dates during the years 1968 to 1971. The manner in which the propulsion requirements vary with flight time and launch date is considered, and a comparison of vehicle performance using the variable and constant thrust programs is presented. The existence of optimum launch dates is interpreted in terms of certain transversality conditions derivable from the calculus of variations. A brief comparison of the advanced propulsion vehicle and the ballistic vehicle propulsion requirements is made for Earth-Mars rendezvous trajectories.