Optimal control analysis of nuclear thermal rocket engine with inert mass active jettisoning (Q2703301)

The author studies an optimal control problem of Mayer type for the space vehicle motion with variable mass in the case when the space vehicle is equipped by nuclear thermal propulsion system (NTP) with inert mass active jettisoning. The corresponding system of differential equations has the form \(\dot R=V,\;\dot V=(P/M)e+F(R),\;\dot M_{u}=-\delta\xi p_{0} \sqrt{\mu_{0}/T},\;\dot M_{i}=-(1-\delta)\xi p_{0}\sqrt{\mu_{i}/T}\), where \(R\) and \(V\) are the space vehicle center of mass position and velocity vectors, \(P\) is NTP thrust, \(e\) is a unit vector of rocket thrust direction, \(F\) is gravitational acceleration, \(M_{u}\) and \(M_{i}\) are NTP propellent and inert masses correspondingly, \(\mu_{0}\) and \(\mu_{i}\) are molecular masses of the propellent and inert mass correspondingly, and \(\xi\) is a constant determining the rocket combustion chamber geometry. Assuming the possibility of only separate using of propellent and inert masses, the author chooses the chamber pressure \(p_{0}\), the temperature of the dissociated gas \(T\) and \(\delta\in\{0,1\}\) as control functions.