Comparison of Guidance Methods for Autonomous Planetary Lander

Guidance methods for a powered descent planetary lander are examined. Several guidance laws are developed and analyzed including Apollo derived, modified Apollo, time efficient and fuel efficient methods. These laws are implemented using two different methods: Apollo approach, and real time. The equations of motion for an arbitrary planetary lander with sloshing fuel and a gimbaled nozzle are derived using a Newtonian approach. A six degree of freedom (6DOF) simulation of the vehicle system dynamics is programmed in Simulink to test the various guidance methods. The guidance methods are assessed using several different trajectories.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Engineering

Grantor

Rice University

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Harris, Wyatt Jacob

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Spanos, Pol D.

• Mechanical engineering
• Materials science

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1911/64447

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/64447