Autonomous Guidance and Control for Precision Landing on Planetary Bodies

Abstract

Autonomously landing a spacecraft on the surface of a planetary body with a degree of precision in the order of meters is highly challenging. Over the course of time, the landing ellipse, defined as the region with a 99% likelihood of where a space vehicle will land, has improved steadily but currently still has dimensions in the order of kilometers. The first and single Martian spacecraft that has performed a guided atmospheric entry and utilized precision landing technologies is the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The MSL probe and its focal point, the Curiosity rover, has thus been the most advanced mission yet to have flown to Mars. Nonetheless, space missions to the Red Planet have thus-far never landed following fuel optimal paths. Similarly, dispersions for landing on Titan with current technologies expand to hundreds of kilometers. The only reference mission to Titan is the Huygens probe, which has not utilized precision landing technologies nor optimal path planning. Besides, the goal of the Cassini-Huygens mission was to maximize descent time to augment scientific data retrieval of Titan's atmosphere. As part of the NASA Space Exploration Technology Directorate, a parafoil is proposed for landing on Titan due to its cost effectiveness, ease of deployment, relatively low mass compared to the prospective payload and capabilities of precise autonomous delivery. While considering all phases of Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) and all elements of Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC), the central focus of the research was put on the (powered and parafoil) terminal descent phase. The research core concerns a convex optimization programming approach to guarantee soft-landing. The algorithm has been verified based on the extensive Mars powered descent guidance literature. As part of the research conducted at NASA/JPL/Caltech, the algorithm has been extended to become compatible with landing a parafoil on Saturn's moon Titan. Throughout the discussion a distinction is made between lossless and successive convexification for optimal guidance. Both types have been simulated to either compute fuel optimal paths for powered Mars landing or pull-power optimal paths for parafoil Titan landing. The soft-landing is guaranteed while adhering to imposed mission constraints. By using the full capability of the spacecraft unprecedented precision may be achieved. This will enable engineers and scientists to reach the most alluring places on planetary bodies, thereby providing humanity a deeper understanding of the Universe.