MITIGATING SPACE DEBRIS THROUGH THE USE OF GAUSS' VARIATIONAL EQUATIONS AND PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION
Open Access
Author:
Palm, Dylan Marlin
Area of Honors:
Aerospace Engineering
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Robert Graham Melton, Thesis Supervisor Dr. George A Lesieutre, Thesis Honors Advisor Puneet Singla, Faculty Reader Amy Ruth Pritchett, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
Space Debris Particle Swarm Optimization Gauss' Variational Equations Solar Sails
Abstract:
The accumulation of space debris is increasing at a tremendous rate. More than 25,000
objects of at least 10 cm in diameter orbit the Earth. These objects pose significant danger to other
potential spacecraft. Creating methods to stop this increasing process are important for the future
for space exploration. This research was solidified by examining the use of solar sail technology
as a viable option for mitigating the problem of space debris. Considering only two-dimensional
motion, the Gauss’ Variational Equations (GVEs) were used along with the fundamental solar sail
force equation to find a fixed optimal angle for the solar sail to minimize the time to deorbit a
space debris in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Other effects such as gravity from the Moon and Sun were
ignored along with low-density drag. Further research was conducted, using the particle swarm
optimization (PSO) technique along with the GVEs to find the optimal time-varying angle for the
solar sail to minimize the time to deorbit space debris. Both problems are solved by using the
computer program MATLAB. Future work will delve into refining the PSO algorithm as applied
to this problem in order to obtain improved solutions.
