TY - JOUR A1 - Kowalski, Julia A1 - Linder, Peter A1 - Zierke, S. A1 - Wulfen, B. van A1 - Clemens, J. A1 - Konstantinidis, K. A1 - Ameres, G. A1 - Hoffmann, R. A1 - Mikucki, J. A1 - Tulaczyk, S. A1 - Funke, O. A1 - Blandfort, D. A1 - Espe, Clemens A1 - Feldmann, Marco A1 - Francke, Gero A1 - Hiecker, S. A1 - Plescher, Engelbert A1 - Schöngarth, Sarah A1 - Dachwald, Bernd A1 - Digel, Ilya A1 - Artmann, Gerhard A1 - Eliseev, D. A1 - Heinen, D. A1 - Scholz, F. A1 - Wiebusch, C. A1 - Macht, S. A1 - Bestmann, U. A1 - Reineking, T. A1 - Zetzsche, C. A1 - Schill, K. A1 - Förstner, R. A1 - Niedermeier, H. A1 - Szumski, A. A1 - Eissfeller, B. A1 - Naumann, U. A1 - Helbing, K. T1 - Navigation technology for exploration of glacier ice with maneuverable melting probes JF - Cold Regions Science and Technology N2 - The Saturnian moon Enceladus with its extensive water bodies underneath a thick ice sheet cover is a potential candidate for extraterrestrial life. Direct exploration of such extraterrestrial aquatic ecosystems requires advanced access and sampling technologies with a high level of autonomy. A new technological approach has been developed as part of the collaborative research project Enceladus Explorer (EnEx). The concept is based upon a minimally invasive melting probe called the IceMole. The force-regulated, heater-controlled IceMole is able to travel along a curved trajectory as well as upwards. Hence, it allows maneuvers which may be necessary for obstacle avoidance or target selection. Maneuverability, however, necessitates a sophisticated on-board navigation system capable of autonomous operations. The development of such a navigational system has been the focal part of the EnEx project. The original IceMole has been further developed to include relative positioning based on in-ice attitude determination, acoustic positioning, ultrasonic obstacle and target detection integrated through a high-level sensor fusion. This paper describes the EnEx technology and discusses implications for an actual extraterrestrial mission concept. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2015.11.006 SN - 0165-232X IS - 123 SP - 53 EP - 70 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Baader, Fabian A1 - Keller, Denis A1 - Lehmann, Raphael A1 - Gerber, Lukas A1 - Reiswich, Martin A1 - Dachwald, Bernd A1 - Förstner, Roger T1 - Operating melting probes for ice penetration under sublimation conditions and in reduced gravity on a sounding rocket T2 - Proceedings of the 24th ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and related Research Y1 - 2019 SN - 0379-6566 N1 - 24th PAC Symposium 2019 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Dachwald, Bernd A1 - Mengali, Giovanni A1 - Quarta, Alessandro A A1 - Macdonald, Malcolm A1 - McInnes, Colin R T1 - Optical solar sail degradation modelling T2 - 1st International Symposium on Solar Sailing N2 - We propose a simple parametric OSSD model that describes the variation of the sail film's optical coefficients with time, depending on the sail film's environmental history, i.e., the radiation dose. The primary intention of our model is not to describe the exact behavior of specific film-coating combinations in the real space environment, but to provide a more general parametric framework for describing the general optical degradation behavior of solar sails. Y1 - 2007 N1 - 1st International Symposium on Solar Sailing 27–29 June 2007, Herrsching, Germany SP - 1 EP - 27 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dachwald, Bernd T1 - Optimal Solar Sail Trajectories for Missions to the Outer Solar System JF - Journal of guidance, control, and dynamics. 28 (2005), H. 6 Y1 - 2005 SN - 0162-3192 N1 - 2. ISSN: 0162-3192. - 3. ISSN: 0731-5090 SP - 1187 EP - 1193 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dachwald, Bernd T1 - Optimal Solar Sail Trajectories for Missions to the Outer Solar System JF - 22nd AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference and Exhibit - AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit - AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit - AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference and Exhibit - AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit : 16 - 19 August 2004, Providence, Rhode Island / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. - (AIAA meeting papers on disc ; 2004,14-15) Y1 - 2004 N1 - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ; AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit <2004, Providence, RI> ; AIAA paper number: AIAA-2004-5406 PB - American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics CY - Reston, Va. ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Schoutetens, Frederic A1 - Dachwald, Bernd A1 - Heiligers, Jeannette T1 - Optimisation of photon-sail trajectories in the alpha-centauri system using evolutionary neurocontrol T2 - 8th ICATT 2021 N2 - With the increased interest for interstellar exploration after the discovery of exoplanets and the proposal by Breakthrough Starshot, this paper investigates the optimisation of photon-sail trajectories in Alpha Centauri. The prime objective is to find the optimal steering strategy for a photonic sail to get captured around one of the stars after a minimum-time transfer from Earth. By extending the idea of the Breakthrough Starshot project with a deceleration phase upon arrival, the mission’s scientific yield will be increased. As a secondary objective, transfer trajectories between the stars and orbit-raising manoeuvres to explore the habitable zones of the stars are investigated. All trajectories are optimised for minimum time of flight using the trajectory optimisation software InTrance. Depending on the sail technology, interstellar travel times of 77.6-18,790 years can be achieved, which presents an average improvement of 30% with respect to previous work. Still, significant technological development is required to reach and be captured in the Alpha-Centauri system in less than a century. Therefore, a fly-through mission arguably remains the only option for a first exploratory mission to Alpha Centauri, but the enticing results obtained in this work provide perspective for future long-residence missions to our closest neighbouring star system. Y1 - 2021 N1 - 8th ICATT (International Conference on Astrodynamics Tools and Techniques), 23 - 25 June 2021, Virtual SP - 1 EP - 15 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dachwald, Bernd A1 - Seboldt, Wolfgang T1 - Optimization of Interplanetary Rendezvous Trajectories for Solar Sailcraft Using a Neurocontroller JF - A collection of technical papers / AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference : Monterey, California, 5 - 8 August 2002. - Vol. 2 Y1 - 2002 SN - 1-56347-549-9 N1 - Astrodynamics Specialist Conference <2002, Monterey, Calif.> American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ; AIAA paper number: AIAA-2002-4989 SP - 1263 EP - 1270 PB - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics CY - Reston, Va. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dachwald, Bernd T1 - Optimization of Interplanetary Solar Sailcraft Trajectories Using Evolutionary Neurocontrol JF - Journal of guidance, control, and dynamics. 27 (2004), H. 1 Y1 - 2004 SN - 0162-3192 N1 - 2. ISSN: 0162-3192. - 3. ISSN: 0731-5090 SP - 66 EP - 72 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dachwald, Bernd A1 - Ohndorf, A. A1 - Gill, E. T1 - Optimization of low-thrust Earth-Moon transfers using evolutionary neurocontrol / Ohndorf, A. ; Dachwald, B. ; Gill, E. JF - IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, 2009. CEC '09. Y1 - 2009 SN - 978-1-4244-2958-5 SP - 358 EP - 364 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dachwald, Bernd T1 - Optimization of very-low-thrust trajectories using evolutionary neurocontrol JF - Acta Astronautica N2 - Searching optimal interplanetary trajectories for low-thrust spacecraft is usually a difficult and time-consuming task that involves much experience and expert knowledge in astrodynamics and optimal control theory. This is because the convergence behavior of traditional local optimizers, which are based on numerical optimal control methods, depends on an adequate initial guess, which is often hard to find, especially for very-low-thrust trajectories that necessitate many revolutions around the sun. The obtained solutions are typically close to the initial guess that is rarely close to the (unknown) global optimum. Within this paper, trajectory optimization problems are attacked from the perspective of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Inspired by natural archetypes, a smart global method for low-thrust trajectory optimization is proposed that fuses artificial neural networks and evolutionary algorithms into so-called evolutionary neurocontrollers. This novel method runs without an initial guess and does not require the attendance of an expert in astrodynamics and optimal control theory. This paper details how evolutionary neurocontrol works and how it could be implemented. The performance of the method is assessed for three different interplanetary missions with a thrust to mass ratio <0.15mN/kg (solar sail and nuclear electric). Y1 - 2005 SN - 1879-2030 VL - 57 IS - 2-8 SP - 175 EP - 185 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam [u.a.] ER -