Hidden Genes Genetic Algorithm with Low-Thrust Shaped-Based Method
Sung-Moon Choi, David Knapick, Madhusudan Vijayakumar, Ossama O. Abdelkhalik · 2024
The problem of designing low-thrust multiple gravity-assist interplanetary trajectories with an unknown number of flybys using a Finite Fourier Series Shape-Based (FFS-SB) method is presented. This work extends the Hidden Genes Genetic Algorithm (HGGA) concept for impulsive trajectories to low-thrust solutions. Therefore, the number of flybys, the planets to flyby, and the epochs of all involved bodies can be determined. Several test cases are presented: Earth to Mars, Earth to comet Tempel-1, and Earth to asteroid 1989ML. The results in this paper demonstrate lower mission costs to benchmark problems when considering flybys in the design space.