This page is under construction, all descriptions are very brief and incomplete! More information can be found in the publications.
Current Development and Research Projects
Low-Thrust Mission Analysis and Optimization
- for a combined SEP/REP mission to the heliopause
- Development of InTrance. InTrance stands for Intelligent Trajectory optimization using neurocontroller evolution. It is a software for the
optimization of low-thrust trajectories (SEP, NEP, solar sails). In contrast to traditional low-thrust trajectory optimization methods, InTrance does not require an initial guess and not the attendance
of an expert in optimal control and astrodynamics to find near-globally optimal trajectories. InTrance is currently further developed by Andreas Ohndorf for his PhD thesis.
Solar Sails
- Mission analysis and design
- Trajectory optimization
- Orbit and attitude dynamics and control
- Solar sail modeling
- Advanced concepts (e.g. advanced solar photon thruster)
IceMole: a Combined Drill and Melting Probe for In-Situ Measurements in Ice
- Development and testing of a combined drilling and melting probe prototype for in-situ
measurements in deep ice (glaciers, ice sheets).
The probe (or subsurface icecraft), called IceMole, had its first successful tests in September 2010 on the Swiss Morteratsch glacier,
where it digged upwards in the ice, penetrated dirt layers, and showed some turning capability in the the ice.
Between 2012 and 2015, a consortium funded by the DLR Space Administration and led by FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences develops a much more advanced IceMole probe,
which includes a sophisticated system for obstacle avoidance, target detection, and navigation in ice. The main technical objective of this project,
which is termed Enceladus Explorer or EnEx, is to test navigation in deep ice in preparation of the IceMole and its navigation technology for
extraterrestrial applications. The EnEx-probe will also feature a clean mechanism for the sampling of subglacial brine from a crevasse.
In the 2014/15 season, it is intended to use this probe in co-operation with a US team for taking clean samples of subglacial brine at the Blood Falls
(McMurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarctica) for chemical and microbiological analysis. Before the deployment of the probe at the Blood Falls, two intermediate field tests are foreseen to validate the cleanliness of the sampling method.
Links
COMPASS-2
- Development of the next generation CubeSat at FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences.
Past Development and Research Projects
Low-Thrust Mission Analysis and Optimization
- for missions to small bodies (solar sail and electric, also multiple rendezvous and sample return missions)
- for asteroid deflection missions (solar sail and electric)
- for NASA's Solar Polar Imager (SPI) mission (solar sail)
- for a SEP mission to Jupiter and Europa (CONSEP study)
- for a SEP mission to Saturn (CONSEP 2 study)
- for missions into the outer solar system and to the heliopause (solar sail and electric)
Solar Sails
- Mission analysis and design for missions to small bodies, missions into the outer solar system and to the heliopause, and missions into close solar orbits
- Mission analysis and design for asteroid deflection missions
- Development of a sail film degradation model