A Maximum Principle Re-Entry Study

The Maximum Principle of Pontryagin is used to find the point-to-point re-entry trajectory of a space vehicle with an offset center of gravity which will minimize the accumulated aerodynamic acceleration. The mathematical model used incorporates the yaw angle and the true angle of attack as control variables. The set of characteristic differential equations is written with both algebraic and differential constraints. A computation procedure is devised so that numerical solutions can be obtained on a digital computer.