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Jianping Yuan · Yu Cheng ·
Jinglang Feng · Chong Sun

Low Energy Flight:

Orbital Dynamics
and Mission
Trajectory Design
Low Energy Flight: Orbital Dynamics and Mission
Trajectory Design
Jianping Yuan Yu Cheng
• •

Jinglang Feng Chong Sun

•

Low Energy Flight: Orbital

Dynamics and Mission
Trajectory Design

123
Jianping Yuan Yu Cheng
School of Astronautics School of Astronautics
Northwestern Polytechnical University Northwestern Polytechnical University
Xi’an, China Xi’an, China

Jinglang Feng Chong Sun

Nanjing University School of Astronautics
Nanjing, China Northwestern Polytechnical University
Xi’an, China

ISBN 978-981-13-6129-6 ISBN 978-981-13-6130-2 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6130-2
Jointly published with Science Press, Beijing, China
The print edition is not for sale in China Mainland. Customers from China Mainland please order the
print book from: Science Press.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019930644

© Science Press and Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019

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Singapore
Preface

In recent years, space missions with the destinations to planets and small solar
system bodies have become more and more popular. For missions to such kind of
celestial bodies, one challenge comes from the trajectory design and optimization of
mission transfer that requires low energy, e.g., utilizing the continuous low thrust
and invariant manifold. The other challenge is the strong perturbation on the
spacecraft’s motion from the highly irregular gravity field. This book provides an
overview of the major issues related to the development of low-energy flight and
includes the continuous low-thrust transfer between the near earth asteroids using
the solar sailing and solar electrical propulsion systems that are covered in Chap. 2,
the low-energy transfer between libration point orbits and lunar orbits using
invariant manifold in Chap. 3, the Lorentz force formation flying under artificial
magnetic field in Chap. 4, and the highly non-linear dynamical environment in the
vicinity of small solar system bodies that are covered in the Chaps. 5 and 6.
Therefore, this book is suitable for both graduate students and researchers.
The contents of this book are based on the recent research and Ph.D. studies
of the authors, i.e., Prof. J. Yuan of Northwestern Polytechnic University (NWPU),
Dr. C. Sun from 2013 to 2015 of NWPU that contributes Chap. 2, Dr. Y. Cheng
from 2014 to 2016 as a joint Ph.D. student at Universitat de Barcelona and NWPU
contributing to Chaps. 3 and 4, and Dr. J. Feng from 2011 to 2016 of Delft
University of Technology for Chaps. 5 and 6.
In addition, the authors got valuable comments and suggestions from colleagues
and friends, and they express their deep gratitude toward Prof. X. Hou from Nanjing
University; Prof. G. Gómez, Prof. J. Masdemont, and Prof. À. Haro from Universitat
de Barcelona; and Ir. Ron Noomen, Prof. B. Ambrosius, Prof. B. Vermeersen, and
Prof. P. Visser from Delft University of Technology.

Xi’an, China Jianping Yuan

March 2018

v
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Low-Thrust Propulsion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Transfer in the Earth-Moon System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Orbital Dynamics Around Irregular Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Continuous Low Thrust Trajectory Design and Optimization . . . . . 7
2.1 The Virtual Gravity Field Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.2 The Definition of Virtual Central Gravitational Field . . . . . 8
2.2 Trajectory Design Using the VCGF Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2.1 Rendezvous Trajectory Design Using VCGF Method . . . . 9
2.2.2 Orbit Interception Trajectory Design Using VCGF
Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 14
2.2.3 Mission Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 15
2.2.4 Conclusion Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 23
2.3 Orbital Rendezvous Between Close Near Earth Asteroids
Considering the Third Body Perturbation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 24
2.3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 24
2.3.2 The Variation of Orbital Elements Caused by the Earth
Gravitational Perturbation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 25
2.3.3 Orbital Rendezvous Considering the Third Body
Perturbation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 29
2.3.4 Minimal Fuel Consumption Optimization Using Hybrid
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.3.5 Simulation Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.3.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

vii
viii Contents

3 Transfer Between Libration Point Orbits and Lunar

Orbits in Earth-Moon System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.2 The Dynamic Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2.1 Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2.2 Change of Coordinates Between the Synodic CR3BP
and the Moon-Centred Sidereal Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 44
3.3 Computation of a Transfer from LPO to a Circular
Lunar Orbit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 46
3.3.1 Computation of the Transfer Manoeuvre to a Keplerian
Ellipse with a Fixed Inclination i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 48
3.3.2 Computation of the Departure Manoeuvre: First
Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 50
3.3.3 Refinement of the Departure Manoeuvre and
Determination of P2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.3.4 Computation of the Insertion Manoeuvre at P2 . . . . . . . . . 53
3.4 Numerical Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.4.1 Departing Halo Orbits and Their Invariant Manifolds . . . . 55
3.4.2 Selection of the Inclination i1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.4.3 Role of the Angles Between the Arrival and Departure
Velocities at P1 and P2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 59
3.4.4 The Role of the Orbit on the Unstable Manifold
with Dv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 61
3.4.5 Varying P1 Along the Manifold Leg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 62
3.4.6 Setting P1 at the First Apolune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 64
3.4.7 Changing the Sizes of the Departing and the Target
Orbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 65
3.5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 67
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 68
4 Lorentz Force Formation Flying in the Earth-Moon System . ..... 71
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 71
4.2 Analysis of the Relative Dynamics of a Charged Spacecraft
Moving Under the Influence of a Magnetic Field . . . . . . . . ..... 73
4.2.1 Modelling Equations and Symmetries . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 73
4.2.2 Equations of Motion in the Normal, Radial and
Tangential Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 75
4.2.3 Symmetries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 77
4.2.4 Equilibrium Points, Stability and Zero Velocity
Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.2.5 Equilibrium Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.2.6 Stability of the Equilibrium Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.2.7 Zero Velocity Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Contents ix

4.3 Periodic and Quasi-periodic Orbits Emanating from Equilibria . .. 87

4.3.1 Computation of Periodic Orbits Around the Equilibrium
Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 87
4.3.2 Computation of 2D Invariant Tori . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 92
4.3.3 Numerical Results on Periodic and Quasi-periodic
Orbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.3.4 The Normal Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.3.5 The Radial Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.3.6 The Tangential Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
4.4 Formation Flying Configuration Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.4.1 Formation Flying Configuration Using Equilibrium
Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.4.2 Formation Flying Configuration Using Periodic Orbits . . . . 121
4.5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
5 1:1 Ground-Track Resonance in a 4th Degree and Order
Gravitational Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.2 Dynamical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5.2.1 Hamiltonian of the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5.2.2 1:1 Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.3 Primary Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.3.1 EPs and Resonance Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.3.2 Numerical Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.4 Secondary Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.4.1 The Location and Width of Hreson2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.4.2 1996 HW1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
5.4.3 Vesta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5.4.4 Betulia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
5.5 The Maximal Lyapunov Characteristic Exponent of Chaotic
Orbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
6 Orbital Dynamics in the Vicinity of Contact Binary Asteroid
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
6.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
6.2 Numerical Analysis of Orbital Motion Around Contact Binary
Asteroid System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
6.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
6.2.2 Dynamical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.2.3 Contact Binary System 1996 HW1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
6.2.4 Orbital Motion Around the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6.2.5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
x Contents

6.3 Orbital Motion in the Vicinity of the Non-collinear Equilibrium

Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.3.2 Dynamical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
6.3.3 Non-collinear EPs and Their Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
6.3.4 Motion Around the Stable Non-collinear EPs . . . . . . . . . . 182
6.3.5 Motion Around the Unstable Non-collinear EPs . . . . . . . . 189
6.3.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Appendix A: The Primary Zonal and Tesseral Terms Contributing
to the 1:1 Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Appendix B: The Un-normalized Spherical Harmonic Coefficients
to Degree and Order 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Appendix C: The Location of EPs and Resonance Width . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Appendix D: The Second Derivatives of the Potential at the EPs
Located at (x0, y0, 0) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Appendix E: The First and Second Derivatives of the n
Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Chapter 1
Introduction

The Sputniks 1 satellite, launched in 1957, was a milestone mission and marked the
start of human’s journey to space. Driven by our stronger dreams to explore the deep
space and with the aid of the fast-developing technologies, human’s activities have
extended to the space far away from Earth, with destinations including the Moon, the
planets and small bodies in our solar system. Numerous missions have been launched.
The one that travels the furthest from Earth is the Voyager 1 spacecraft (NASA),
which obtained images of Saturn and Jupiter during their flybys. Currently, it has
arrived at the outer solar system, i.e. the edge of the solar influence and interstellar
medium.
For the future deep space missions, the first challenge comes from the limited
amount of available propellant, since the flight destination is far from Earth and the
flight time is resultantly longer than Earth missions. Traditionally, the high-impulsive
chemical propulsions are used to change the velocity of the spacecraft. For instance,
the Hohmann transfer, based on the two-body problem, has been used for transfer
trajectory design. Although these techniques have been applied successfully in many
space missions, the most energy-efficient means should be addressed to handle the
new rising challenge.
Secondly, the mission requirements and flight environment will become more
and more complicated. For spacecraft around Earth, the forces in addition to the
Earth’s central gravity are viewed as small perturbations, which have been handled
with mature techniques based on the well-developed perturbed two-body problem.
However, in deep space, the gravitational forces from other celestial bodies are large
and even comparable with that of Earth. One example is the spacecraft around the
collinear libration points of the circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP) such
as the Sun-Earth system, where both primary bodies exert forces of approximately
the same magnitude.
Thirdly, the destinations will be even more diverse, i.e. not restricted to large
and spherical planetary bodies. Small size and non-spherical bodies, e.g. small solar
system bodies including asteroids and comets, have become popular targets. The
© Science Press and Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 1
J. Yuan et al., Low Energy Flight: Orbital Dynamics and Mission
Trajectory Design, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6130-2_1
2 1 Introduction

explorations of them have significant scientific values, as they are recognized as

the remnants of the early solar system and contain rare materials that are potential
energy sources. For the spacecraft orbiting around highly irregular small bodies,
perturbations from the large non-spherical terms of these bodies make the dynamics
and the design of the spacecraft trajectory completely different from those of the
two-body problem. Therefore, efforts should be made to design orbits with these
large perturbations.
In these scenarios, the classical theory of astrodynamics based on the two-body
problem is no longer valid to describe and solve the orbital dynamics. Therefore, the
new kinds of propulsions, more accurate dynamical descriptions, and new techniques
that fully utilize the natural forces and inherent dynamics, are required to achieve
the low-energy flight, which is the focus in this book. These requirements bring new
challenges to mission design, such as efficient analytical/numerical ways to study
the orbital dynamics with low thrust, new methods to deal with strong perturbations,
new ways of designing optimal trajectories for transfer, station-keeping and formation
flying, etc. Therefore, modern astrodynamics needs to be applied, which basically
includes but not limited to the three-body problem, the dynamical system theory, the
low-thrust trajectory design, and orbital dynamics around highly irregular bodies.
For each space mission, mission orbits design mainly consists of two parts: the
first is the design of the trajectory transferring from Earth to the mission orbit around
the target celestial body; the second part is designing the mission orbits for scien-
tific observations and experiments. Therefore, the analysis of mission orbit design
includes the following two major concerns:
• How does the spacecraft been transferred to the target orbit?
• How can the spacecraft be kept on the target orbit or be transferred to new mission
orbits for difference mission scenarios or for mission extensions?
This book aims at investigating the above problems in the concept of low-energy
flight and in the framework of modern astrodynamics, using techniques such as
optimization, perturbation methods and dynamical tools for instance periodic orbits,
invariant manifolds, etc. The following three topics are the focuses:
• Low-thrust transfer trajectory design and formation flying;
• Transfer in the Earth-Moon system using invariant manifolds;
• Orbital dynamics around highly irregular asteroids.

1.1 Low-Thrust Propulsion

There are several ways to generate low thrust, e.g. solar power, electric energy, etc.
The electric propulsion is the most popular one, which uses electric or electromag-
netic energy to produce continuous low thrust. It has been well developed and widely
used in space missions, such as the orbit raising and station-keeping of geostationary
satellites. Compared with the chemical propulsion, it is more fuel efficient, which
1.1 Low-Thrust Propulsion 3

generates higher speed through the weaker thrust but much longer execution time.
Russian satellites have used electric propulsions for decades. In 2001, with elec-
tric propulsion, NASA’s Deep Space 1 spacecraft performed interplanetary flight for
more than 1000 h. In 2002, Japan launched its first electric-propellant GEO satellite
Kodama. In 2006, SMART-1 was ESA’s first solar-electric propulsion spacecraft to
the Moon and ended with a Moon impact. The Dawn spacecraft, launched in 2007,
was the first dual asteroid mission actuated by ion thruster. By 2013, approximately
350 spacecraft have flown using electric propulsions.
Chapter 2 is devoted to the optimal transfer trajectory design using the low thrust. A
new efficient method called virtual gravity field is proposed to provide initial guesses
for the optimization process. This method is demonstrated by several interplanetary
transfer examples and compared with other optimization methods.
Apart from the transfer trajectory, low thrust can also be used for keeping mission
orbits, e.g. formation flying. As an alternative of the single spacecraft mission, for-
mation flying provides the advantages of more flexibility for maintenance, upgrade,
and replacement of part of the formation. There are already some missions used
this technique, for instance, NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS),
launched in 2015, investigating the interaction of the magnetic fields of Sun and Earth.
ESA’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission is going to use a trian-
gular formation in the orbit trailing the Earth in the heliocentric frame. Recently, a
new-concept propellant-less formation flying utilizing the Lorentz force is proposed.
The leader provides the magnetic field, and the motion of the charged follower in
this field generates the Lorentz force. Although it is currently in the research stage,
this technique demonstrates a promising application on future space explorations.
In spite of some preliminary analysis on the dynamics of this system, Chap. 4 of
this book provides systematic studies from different aspects, including equilibrium
points, periodic orbits, 2-dimensional invariant tori of three specific cases.

1.2 Transfer in the Earth-Moon System

For missions around major celestial bodies such as Earth, the gravity of the central
body is the dominant force, and other forces can be treated as small perturbations.
The resulting trajectories are perturbed Keplerian motions that are close to the unper-
turbed ones. In deep space missions, the circular restricted three-body CR3BP is usu-
ally applied to model the orbital motion of the spacecraft, instead of the perturbed
two-body problem. For this dynamical system, there are five libration points, around
which the dynamical structures such as periodic orbits and invariant manifolds are
often used in designing low-energy transfer trajectories in these systems. ISEE-3,
launched in 1978, was the first mission utilizes the invariant manifolds to trans-
fer to the first Lagrangian point (L1) of the Sun-Earth system. Launched in 2001,
the Genesis mission took the heteroclinic connections between orbits around differ-
ent collinear libration points as the transfer orbit for the first time. In 2009, NASA’s
ARTEMIS mission send two spacecraft to the Moon through the lunar ballistic trans-
4 1 Introduction

fer trajectories, which utilized the invariant manifolds of both the Sun-Earth and the
Earth-Moon systems. During the first mission extension after departing from the
lunar orbit, China’s Chang’e-2 spacecraft arrived the second Lagrangian point (L2)
of the Sun-Earth system for the first time ever in 2011. The following GRAIL mis-
sion, launched in 2011, uses similar transfer trajectories. Launched in 2014, China’s
CE-5/T1 mission also visited the L2 point of Earth-Moon system from Earth via a
lunar swing-by and returned to the Moon through the invariant manifolds associated
with this L2 point.
Apart from the CRTBP, there are some improved models such as the bi-circular
model, the Hill model, the restricted four-body problem. Nevertheless, only the
mostly applied CR3BP will be discussed in this book. Focusing on the Earth-Moon
system and using the CR3BP, Chap. 3 is devoted to studying the transfer from a halo
orbit to a lunar polar orbit. By varying the amplitude of the halo orbit, the specific
unstable orbit in the unstable invariant manifold, the specific point on this specific
unstable orbit, and the height of the lunar polar orbit, this problem is systematically
studied.

1.3 Orbital Dynamics Around Irregular Bodies

As mentioned, in addition to planets, small solar system bodies with irregular gravity
field are also interesting targets for both scientific and technical objectives and have
become popular destinations for space missions. In 2000, NEAR (NASA) space-
craft arrived at asteroid 433 Eros and determined its gravity, mass, spin rate and
orientation, density and internal mass distribution. In 2005, Hayabusa (JAXA) char-
acterized Itokawa’s surface and shape thoroughly. Regolith samples were collected
and returned to Earth for the first time in 2010. After ten years’ journey, Rosetta
(ESA) had a rendezvous with its target comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in
2014 and released the lander Philae for the first landing on a comet ever. The comet
was revealed to have a highly irregular shape of a contact binary body. For missions
to such kind of bodies, one of the biggest challenges comes from the perturbation on
the spacecraft’s motion from the highly irregular gravitational field. Moreover, due
to the weak gravity field of the small bodies, the motion of the spacecraft is more
sensitive to perturbations, for instance, solar radiation pressure (SRP) and outgassing
etc.
Focusing on the non-spherical perturbation of the asteroids, Chap. 5 is devoted
to the ground-track resonances, which is the main cause of the instability of orbital
motions close to the asteroid’s surface. This gives the readers an intuitive picture of
“haotic” orbital environment around these highly irregular objects. After that, Chap. 6
focuses on families of periodic orbits and their associated stability properties. This
study provides a powerful way to select stable/unstable mission orbits out of the
“haotic sea” around these bodies.
1.3 Orbital Dynamics Around Irregular Bodies 5

It is stressed here that each chapter is self-contained, since they belong to relatively
different sub-topics of modern astrodynamics. The reason that we put Chap. 4 on low-
thrust after Chap. 3 is the system and the associated dynamical structures are similar
with those of the CR3BP studied in Chap. 3. The readers can better understand the
contents of this chapter after they read Chap. 3.
Chapter 2
Continuous Low Thrust Trajectory
Design and Optimization

2.1 The Virtual Gravity Field Method

2.1.1 Introduction

Continuous low thrust propulsion is an effective way for achieving space mission
trajectory design, which has attracted much attention in literatures. The fundamental
task of trajectory design is to find thrust profile which can change spacecraft from
one state to another state within a given flight of time. However, the trajectory design
is still challenging, because there are too many trajectory parameters which need
analyzing and those parameters associated search space is very large.
Analytical solutions have been proposed by several authors. Tsien [21], Boltz [6]
and Mengali [16] developed analytical solutions of orbit motion, under the assump-
tion of continuous thrust aligning along the radius direction. Following the same
formulation, Boltz [7] and Zee [25], studied the case of tangential thrust for continu-
ous low thrust trajectories. Furthermore, Gao [8] presented an averaging technique to
obtain analytical solution in case of tangential thrust. Although those methods can,
to a large extent, simplify the continuous low thrust problem, they are only suitable
for some special cases.
For general cases, there is no analytical solution in continuous thrust trajectory,
and the low thrust trajectory is designed typically using two optimization methods:
the indirect optimization method and the direct optimization method. The former is
based on the calculus of variation, and then the optimization problem is modeled
as a two-point boundary value problem. However, it is extremely sensitive to the
initial guess, so it is difficult to generate suitable solutions using the indirect method.
The latter parameterizes a trajectory using a few variables, and then the nonlinear
programming technique is used to optimize those variables to maximize objective
function. A variety of methods of this type have been examined [5]. A noticeable
direct method was proposed by Jon A. Sims et al. [11]. In his work, the trajectory was
divided into several segments at discrete points. The continuous low thrust trajectory
design problem was modeled into a nonlinear programming problem, and was solved
© Science Press and Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 7
J. Yuan et al., Low Energy Flight: Orbital Dynamics and Mission
Trajectory Design, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6130-2_2
8 2 Continuous Low Thrust Trajectory Design and Optimization

by the nonlinear programming software SNOPT. Another method that can provide
an initial guess for more accurate optimizers is the shape-based method developed
by [2]. In the shape-based method, the thrust is assumed to be aligned along the
velocity direction, and the radical vector of spacecraft is written as a function of
the transfer angle. Then the coefficients of the function are calculated to satisfy the
boundary constraints. Later, [1] extended the shape-based approximation method, in
order to reduce the required thrust to satisfy the thrust constraint. In their method,
the radius vector and polar angle are described as functions of flight time in form
of Fourier series. Those coefficients of Fourier series are optimized using Fmincon
tools in Matlab software to satisfy the boundary constraints and thrust constraints.
In this section, a virtual central gravitational field method (VCGF) is proposed
to determine continuous thrust trajectory. Instead of providing some special initial
guesses, the method can generate a large number of feasible initial guesses effi-
ciently and find the optimal one. There is no prior assumption about the direction
of thrust used in this method, and the solutions are analytically determined by the
virtual gravity. The basic idea of the method is that, without thrust and neglecting
perturbation, the spacecraft flies in a conic orbit in two-body gravitational field. Sim-
ilarly, if the thrust and the Earth gravity can form a virtual central gravitational field,
then the spacecraft can fly in a virtual conic orbit to accomplish trajectory maneu-
ver in that virtual gravity. In this way, feasible continuous thrust trajectories can be
parameterized, and expressed as a kind of displaced orbits named virtual conic orbits
analytically. Combined with the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, the
proposed method provides a new way to obtain initial guess given an objective func-
tion. This method is not only intended for rendezvous case, but it is also used to solve
less constrained cases like orbit interception.

2.1.2 The Definition of Virtual Central Gravitational Field

In the two-body problem, spacecraft flies in a Keplerian orbit in the geocentric

gravitational field with no thrust. By analogy, if the continuous thrust and the Earth’s
gravity can form a virtual central gravitational field, the spacecraft can fly in a virtual
Keplerian orbit. A virtual central gravitational field can be defined by two parameters:
the magnitude of virtual gravity μvg , the displaced position parameter r0 , as shown
in Fig. 2.1. From the definition of the virtual central gravitational field, we can see
that the Earth’s gravity is a special case of a virtual gravity, whose gravity parameter
is μvg = 1 DU/T U 2 , r0 = 0 DU (here DU is the distance Unit, and the TU is the
time Unit).
As shown in Fig. 2.2, point A is an initial point and point B is a final point; ra , rb are
position vectors in point A and point B in geocentric coordinate system; rvga ,rvgb are
position vectors in point A and point B in the virtual central gravitational coordinates
system. Virtual Keplerian orbits can be classified into three types as shown in Fig. 2.2.
(1) μ = μvg , r0 = 0 as shown in Fig. 2.2a;
(2) μ = μvg , r0 = 0 as shown in Fig. 2.2b;
2.1 The Virtual Gravity Field Method 9

Fig. 2.1 The virtual central gravitational field

Fig. 2.2 Three types of virtual Keplerian orbits

The VCGF method requires that a spacecraft should fly in a virtual conic orbit and
in the virtual central gravitational field to satisfy the boundary constraints. There are
a few steps in the VCGF method. Firstly, feasible virtual gravity field determined by
parameter set (μvg , r0 ) are required, in which the spacecraft runs in the virtual conic
orbits to satisfy trajectory constraints. Secondly, the required thrust to form the virtual
gravity is computed, and the fuel consumption is calculated. Finally, considering the
objective function, the PSO algorithm is adopted to find the optimal initial guess for
more accurate optimizer.

2.2 Trajectory Design Using the VCGF Method

2.2.1 Rendezvous Trajectory Design Using VCGF Method

2.2.1.1 Trajectory Parameterization

In the geocentric coordinate system, ra and va are the position vector and the velocity
vector at point A, rb and vb are the position vector and the velocity vector at terminal
10 2 Continuous Low Thrust Trajectory Design and Optimization

point B. (μvg , r0 ) are parameters of the virtual gravity. In the virtual central gravita-
tional coordinate system, rvga and vvga are the position vector and the velocity vector
at point A respectively; rvgb and vvgb are the position vector and the velocity vector at
point B respectively. Velocity vectors and position vectors of the spacecraft at initial
point A and terminal point B can be computed as,
⎧
⎪
⎪ rvga = ra + r0
⎨
vvga = va
(2.1)
⎪
⎪ rvgb = rb + r0
⎩
vvgb = vb

With the Keplerian orbit theory, one has that,

⎧
⎪
⎪ hvg = rvga × vvga = rvgb × vvgb
⎪
⎪ Δf
r ·rvgb
= arccos( rvga )
⎪
⎪ vga ·rvgb
⎨ hvg 2
rvga = μvg 1+evg cos fvga
1
(2.2)
⎪
⎪
⎪ vgb = fvga + Δf
⎪ f
⎪
⎪
⎩ r = hvg 2 1
vgb μvg 1+evg cos fvgb

where hvg , evg are the angular of momentum and the eccentricity of the virtual
Keplerian orbit, while fvga , fvgb are the true anomaly of point A and B in the virtual
central gravitational field respectively. The range of parameter fvga is [0, 2π ], while
r0 should satisfied,

hvg = rvga × vvga = rvgb × vvgb (2.3)

In the X-Y plane, we set

ra = [rax , ray ], rb = [rbx , rby ]

,
va = [vax , vay ], vb = [vbx , vby ]

and then Eq. 2.3 can be expressed as follow,

a1 · r0x + b1 r0y = c1 (2.4)

Where a1 , b1 , c1 are expressed as,

⎧
⎨ a1 = vay − vby
b1 = vbx − vax (2.5)
⎩
c1 = (rbx vby − rby vbx ) − (rax vay − ray vax )
2.2 Trajectory Design Using the VCGF Method 11

Fig. 2.3 Orbit rendezvous in

2-D space

Fig. 2.4 Orbit rendezvous in

3-D space

In the 2-dimensional plane, through Eq. 2.4, it can be obtained that vector r0 =
[r0x , r0y ] is located on a line, because the intersection angle between vvga and vvgb
is smaller than π , the range of r0 can be determined as r0x ∈ (xrl , xru ), as shown
in Fig. 2.3.
Once parameters (r0x , fvga ) are given, (r0 , μvg ) can be calculated using Eqs. 2.2
and 2.4. Each parameter set (r0 , μvg ) can determine a virtual gravity. Therefore, all
those feasible trajectories can be parameterized as virtual conic orbits (Fig. 2.3), and
analytically expressed as virtual conic orbits. The process of finding rendezvous
trajectory for 3-D space is similar as that for 2-D space, as shown in Fig. 2.4.
In the VCGF method, the transfer angle for one single virtual conic orbit is less
than 2π , because the spacecraft returns to the initial state after one revolution in the
virtual gravity. For multi-revolutions trajectory design problem, the orbit patching
technique discussed in [20] is used. The whole trajectory is divided into a few seg-
ments at discrete points, and those discrete points are target points or just the control
points. Each segment is a virtual conic orbit, and the continuous low thrust trajectory
design can be transformed into multi-segments patching problem. More detail can
be obtained in Ref. [20].

2.2.1.2 Trajectory Optimization

Through the Keplerian orbit theory, the flight time of a spacecraft can be expressed
as follows,
12 2 Continuous Low Thrust Trajectory Design and Optimization

 fvgb avg 3 (1 − evg 2 )3 1
ft = f (fvga , r0x ) = df (2.6)
fvga μvg (1 + evg cos f )2

Similarly, the energy consumption can be expressed as,

 fvgb
fe = f (fvga , r0x ) = (F2 − F1 )df (2.7)
fvga

here set r is the position vector from the spacecraft to the Earth,

μ μvg hvg 2 1
F1 = , F 2 = , r vg = (2.8)
r 2 rvg 2 μvg 1 + evg cos f vg

In minimum fuel consumption case, the objective function is,

 
fvgb
μvg μ
fΔV = fmin (fvga , r0x ) = − 2 df (2.9)
fvga rvg 2 r

In this optimization problem, r0x and μvg are independent variables. Feasible
variables r0x , μvg need to be optimized, so as to minimize the flight time or the fuel
consumption.

2.2.1.3 Thrust Acceleration

In the geocentric coordinate system, equation of motion of the spacecraft under

continuous thrust can be written as,

d 2r μ
+ 3 r = T ac (2.10)
d t2 r
Here we assume that the thrust can form a virtual gravity, and then in the virtual
central gravitational coordinate system, the equation of spacecraft motion under
continuous thrust can be written as,

d 2 rvg μvg
+ rvg = 0 (2.11)
d t2 rvg 3

where

rvg = r − r0 . (2.12)

Because r0 is a constant in one virtual gravity, we have (r0 ) = 0. The position

vector and the velocity vector in the virtual centric coordinate system can be computed
by Eq. 2.13,
2.2 Trajectory Design Using the VCGF Method 13

Fig. 2.5 Force analysis in

the 2-dimensional space

Fig. 2.6 Force analysis in

the 3-dimensional space

rvg = r − r0
(2.13)
vvg = v

where v, vvg are velocity vectors in geocentric coordinates system and virtual central
gravitational coordinate system. Through Eqs. 2.10, 2.11and 2.12, the required thrust
acceleration (TA) is,

d 2r μ d 2 rvg μvg
T ac = 2
+ 3
r − 2
− rvg (2.14)
dt r dt rvg 3

As shown in Fig. 2.5, in 2-dimensional space, given r0 x, μvg , the thrust accelera-
tion required in 2-D space can be obtained by Eq. 2.15,
⎧
⎪
⎪ rvg = r − r0
⎪
⎪ μ
⎨ Tar1 = |r|2
μ
⎪ Tar2 = vg 2 (2.15)
⎪
⎪ | rvg |
⎪
⎩ Tac = Tar · sin arccos Tar2
Tar1

where Tar1 , Tar2 , Tac are magnitude of gravity acceleration, virtual central gravita-
tional acceleration and required TA respectively.
In case of 3-dimensional trajectory design, as shown in Fig. 2.6, rM is the position
vector of spacecraft at point M, and rvgM is the position vector at point M in the
14 2 Continuous Low Thrust Trajectory Design and Optimization

virtual gravity. Assuming TA is T ac = [Tacn2 , Tacθ2 ], where Tacn2 is aligned along

the radical direction, and Tacθ2 is aligned along the circulation direction; Tar1 is the
geocentric gravitation force acceleration, and Tar2 is the virtual centric gravitational
force acceleration; α is the angle between Tacθ2 and Tar2 , and β is the angle between
rM 1 and h2 , then the required TA can be computed as,
⎧
⎪ |rM ·hvg |
⎪ β = arccos |rM |·|hvg |
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ Tar1 = rMμ2
⎪
⎪
⎨ μ
Tar2 = rvgMvg 2
(2.16)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ α = arcsin Tar1Tar2 sin β
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ Tacθ2 = Tar2 sin β cos α
⎪
⎩
Tacn2 = Tar1 cos β

2.2.2 Orbit Interception Trajectory Design Using VCGF

Method

The VCGF method can also be applied to designing less constrained interception
trajectory. In Eq. 2.2, the unknown variables r0 , fvga or r0 , μvg and the virtual conic
orbit in Fig. 2.2a are used. In two dimension problem, we can set r0 = 0 to simplify
the problem, as shown in Fig. 2.7. Given parameters ra , rb , va , it needs to obtain
feasible parameter μvg to solve Eq. 2.2. While in the three dimension problem, both
r0 , μvg are required to optimize. A root finding function f-zeros in MATLAB can be
used to solve this problem.
In the PSO algorithm, the free parameters are the magnitude of virtual gravity
μvg and the projection of r0 in x axis: r0 . The objective function can be the fuel cost
of whole trajectory or the flight time. Here we set the maximal number of iteration
in PSO algorithm are N. Take the orbit rendezvous trajectory design as an example.
Given the range of free variables r0x ∈ (r0xl , r0xu ), the initial point (rA , vA ) and the
terminal point B (rB , vB ).
There is a large amount of parameter set (r0 , μvg ), and each one corresponds to
a trajectory, and the feasible trajectories are those can satisfy boundary constraints.

Fig. 2.7 Optimal trajectory

using PSO algorithm
2.2 Trajectory Design Using the VCGF Method 15

The PSO algorithm is adopted to obtain feasible parameter set (r0 , μvg ) from their
ranges to determine the virtual gravity and the corresponding virtual conic orbits.
There are a few steps in the algorithm. To begin with, the range of free parameters is
set, and a large number of possible trajectories, same as the number of parameter sets
(r0 , μvg ), are obtained. Furthermore, those feasible trajectories which can satisfy the
constraints are chosen. Finally, the value of the objective function is calculated, and
the optimal solution is obtained. The process of PSO algorithm is listed as follow:
Step1: Find the ranges of free variables μvg ∈ (μvgl , μvgu ), r0x ∈ (r0xl , roxu );
Step2: Initialize the particle position with a uniformly distributed random vector
(r0x , μvg ) in their ranges;
Step3: Calculate r0y through Eq. 2.4; then the parameter set (r0 , μvg ) is obtained;
Step4: Calculate the radius and velocity state of initial point A (rvga , vvga ), and
terminal point B (rvgb , vvgb )in the virtual gravity through Eq. 2.1;
Step5: Calculate transfer angle from point A and point B in virtual gravity field
through Eq. 2.2;
Step6: Calculate the orbital elements of point A through its radius and velocity in
virtual gravity field, coevgA =[avgA , evgA , ivgA , wvgA , ΩvgA , T AvgA ], here T AvgA are the
virtual conic orbital inclination, argument of the periapsis, longitude of the ascending
node, and true anomaly respectively.
Step7: Calculate the true anomaly at point B in the designed virtual gravity
(T Avgb =T Avga + Δθ );
Step8: Calculate the radius and velocity rvgb , vvgb through the orbital elements,
coevgB =[avgA , evgA , ivgA , wvgA , ΩvgA , T AvgB ];
Step9: Calculate the radius error Δεr = rvgB − rvgb and the velocity error
Δεv = vvgB − vvgb ; if Δεr ≤ 10−4 , ΔεV ≤ 10−4 ; the trajectory in the virtual grav-
ity can satisfy the boundary constraint. Then record the parameter set (r0 , fvga )i ,
and calculate the fuel consumption (or the flight time) as its fitness; else if Δεr >
10−4 , ΔεV > 10−4 ; then set the fitness of this particle as 1;
Step10: Initialize the particle’s best-known position to its initial position; then
update the swarms best known position and its fitness; If the number of iteration
i < N ; return to step4. If the number of iteration i > N , finished; It should be noted
that, there is a large number of feasible virtual Keplerian orbits that can satisfy
boundary constraints, and the optimal one is the subcategory of them.

2.2.3 Mission Applications

In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, three application exam-
ples of the VCGF method are presented in this section. The first one is the Earth-Mars
orbital transfer trajectory design. The proposed method was used to generate initial
guesses of continuous thrust rendezvous trajectory. Those solutions were compared
with the shape-based (SB) method given in [24], in terms of the magnitude and
the direction of thrust, transfer angle and fuel consumption. The second example
is a fuel-optimal Earth-Mars-Ceres flight trajectory mission discussed in the same
16 2 Continuous Low Thrust Trajectory Design and Optimization

reference. The whole trajectory consists of an interception trajectory from the Earth
to the Mars, and a rendezvous trajectory from the Mars to the Ceres. The effective-
ness of the VCGF method is evaluated by providing an initial guess for the direct
optimizer. Solutions of the VCGF method are compared with the three-dimension,
shape-based method solution discussed in [24]. Here the direct optimizer GPOPS,
a Matlab software for solving a nonlinear optimal control problems, is selected to
generate an accurate solution based on the proposed method and the shape-based
method. The last case is a collision-speed-maximal interception trajectory design
problem in Ref. [12]. In this example, a spacecraft is transferred from the Earth to
intercept with a hazardous asteroid. The asteroid 99942 Apophis is the potentially
hazardous asteroid on an impact trajectory toward the Earth. The aim of optimiza-
tion is to maximize the relative speed between the spacecraft and the asteroid. For
well-documented reasons, heliocentric canonical units were used. In this paper, the
distance units (AU) and the time units (TU) are: 1 DU = 1 (AU) = 149596000 km, 1
TU = 1/2 π year = 58.17 days. All of the examples have been performed on an Intel
Core 2.6GHz with Windows 8. The computation time of optimization is calculated
by MATLAB tic-toc command.
Example A: The Earth-Mars orbit rendezvous
In this example, the two-dimension Earth-Mars orbit is performed. A spacecraft is
transferred from the Earth to rendezvous with the Mars. The boundary conditions
are listed in Table 2.1. Here, in order to analyze the relationship between the transfer
angle, the required thrust and the fuel cost, the VCGF method is applied to generate
initial guesses in case of three transfer angles (Δ θ ): a half revolution (Δ θ = π ),
one revolution (Δ θ = 2π )and two revolutions(Δ θ = 4π ). Using the VCGF method,
those feasible trajectories are expressed as virtual conic orbits and parameterized by
the parameter set (r0 , μ2 ). For one virtual conic trajectory, the transfer angle is less
than 2π (Δθ < 2π ). While in case of multi-revolutions condition (Δθ > 2π ), the
whole trajectory is divided into a few segments at discrete points, and each segment
corresponds to a virtual conic orbit. In order to testify the suitability of proposed
method, the results are compared with the five-degree inverse polynomial shaped
based method, in terms of magnitude and direction of required thrust, the flight time
and the fuel consumption. The boundary conditions of the Earth-Mars rendezvous
mission are listed in Table 2.1.
The transfer angles of those cases are assumed to be π, 2π, 4π , respectively. The
corresponding flight times are set as 3.75TU, 7.683TU and 16.69 TU respectively.
Trajectories generated by the VCGF method and the shape-based method are shown
in Fig. 2.8 (for the case of n = 2). The required thrust for all three cases is shown
in Figs. 2.9, 2.10 and 2.11. Table 2.2 shows the parameters of the virtual gravity

Table 2.1 Initial and final conditions for transfer trajectory

ri = 1AU θi = 0 ṙi = 0 θ̇i = 0.6564
rf = 1.52AU θf = nπ ṙf = 0 θ̇f = 0.5333
2.2 Trajectory Design Using the VCGF Method 17

Fig. 2.8 Rendezvous orbits

(n = 4)

Fig. 2.9 TA for rendezvous

orbits (n = 1)

Fig. 2.10 TA for rendezvous

orbits (n = 2)
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So Larry was persuaded to try on his new suit, and while he felt in a
most uncomfortable frame of mind, the clothes were declared to be a
good fit, and well worth the money.
“I see no reason now why you cannot attend the Fourth at
Gainsboro,” said Mr. Howlitt, with a laugh.
“I mean to, sir,” replied Larry, though he little dreamed under what
circumstances.
A few days later, as he and Job were at work in what was called “the
further field,” on their way home they overheard some one talking in
a loud tone in an old barn standing some distance from the road.
Drawn thither out of curiosity, they looked into the building through
one of the cracks between the boards, to find Pluto Alexander
Snyder there reciting a “piece” with all the gusto at his command.
“By gum!” whispered Job, “if he ain’t oratin’ his Gainsboro stump
speech, he may hitch me up to draw the cultivator ’tween the corn
rows to-morrer. Ain’t he a squelcher?”
Unconscious of his intent listeners, Pluto, the embryo lawyer,
continued to practice on his “oration,” going entirely through the
speech twice, and dwelling upon what he considered its finest points
over and over again.
“If that don’t set out John Howlitt’s eyes I don’t know what will,” he
said to himself. “When he hears this Fourth of July oration of mine he
will think I am fit to associate with his daughter. As if the Howlitts
were anywhere near as good as the Snyders!”
Job had hard work to keep from laughing outright while he listened,
and as soon as they were a safe distance from the old barn, he lay
down on the ground and rolled and roared until he was completely
out of breath.
“Did you ever see th’ beat of thet, Larry. Say, my boy, if you could
orate like that, your fortun’ would be made, ha—ha—ha!”
“I believe I can, Job. Now listen.”
Then, to the amazement of his companion, Larry Little repeated the
“oration” of Pluto Snyder’s from beginning to end. He may have
made some mistakes, but they were of small account, and Job
listened with open-mouthed astonishment.
“By gum!” exclaimed Job, after a long pause, “how in creation did
you do thet? Jess as Pluck Snyder had it, word fer word, even to the
flourishes. Could yer do thet ag’in?”
“Of course I could, Job. It was always easy for me to remember.”
“If I had a hang-on to my memory like thet, I’d make my fortin’, see if
I wouldn’t.”
As Larry and Job were working up that way the next day they took
time to call at the old barn, to find Pluto Snyder already there going
through his daily rehearsal. Nor was that the last time the amused
twain sought their post to listen, for they continued to do this until
they tired of it, and Larry could repeat every word and gesture. To
prove this he went through the entire “oration” before Job the day
preceding the Fourth.
Though Larry had got his new suit of clothes, he knew that Lucy had
promised to go to Gainsboro with young Snyder, so he spared
himself the humiliation of being refused.
In his disappointment he donned his best clothes, and though Mr.
Howlitt had intended for him to ride along with the family, he went on
foot and alone, “the same as the girl who went to get married.”
The day was pleasant, and he found a large crowd gathered in the
grove, where merriment reigned supreme. A stranger among
strangers, he held aloof from the rest, until he was both surprised
and pleased to see Rob, Tom and Jerry there.
“Hello!” greeted the first, “you didn’t say you were coming over here.”
“Neither did you,” replied Larry.
“Say, Rob, don’t Larry look fine in his new clothes? Where’d you get
’em, Larry?”
“Bought them with money of my own earning,” retorted Larry, who
was not disposed to do much talking even with his friends.
The truth was, he had been on the watch for Lucy and Pluto Snyder,
but they had not appeared, though it was already past the time set
for the speaking, and he knew they were waiting for the “orator” up at
the grand stand. Then he saw Mr. Howlitt arrive, and Lucy was with
him, so that his wonder increased.
He was about to go and speak to her, when Job touched him on the
arm, saying, in a low voice:
“They want you up to the spouter’s stand.”
Larry was not more surprised at the words than he was to find that
Job was present, as he had not expected him to come.
“What do you mean, Job?”
“Jess what I say, Larry. Pluck Snyder sent word by me that he can’t
be here to-day, and he wants you to orate his speech fer him.”
 CHAPTER XXIII.
“STOP! THAT’S MY ORATION!”

To explain the appearance of Rob at the Fourth of July celebration in

Gainsboro, we shall have to go back to his meeting with the masked
men on the summit of “Flying Jump,” where we left him just as he
had flung aside two of his assailants to be fired on by others in
concealment.
Knowing from the sounds that two or three were coming to the
assistance of the two men he had for the moment baffled in their
attack, Little Hickory felt that his only way of escape lay in flight.
Thus he quickly sprang into the saddle of his bicycle, and just as the
men in front recovered enough to renew their assault and those in
the bushes burst into sight, he started down the steep grade at a
tremendous velocity.
“Hi, there! hold up or we will shoot ye!” cried the leader of the party.
But nothing was farther from the purpose of Little Hickory, even had
it been possible for him to check his headlong flight at this juncture
without deadly peril to himself.
The road was strewn with loose rocks and rent with deep gullies at
places, but despite the awful peril constantly menacing his progress,
he kept on down “Flying Jump” at a rate of speed in keeping with its
name.
Two of his enemies sent shots after him, but they flew over his head
harmlessly, and the entire party stood as if riveted to their tracks,
while they watched the flight of their intended victim, expecting every
moment to see him flung head first upon the rocks, where he would
be an easy prey to them.
But Little Hickory had too clear a head and too steady a nerve to fall
in any such manner. It is true, he was not an experienced bicyclist,
but what he lacked in experience he more than made up in fearless
foresight and swiftness of action. Never for an instant “losing his
head,” he guided the wheel down the descent, around loose stones
and bowlders, along the very rim of gullies, down, faster and faster,
until he fairly flew into the valley, and carried on by the fearful
momentum he had gained, sped up the ascent on the opposite side.
By that time the amazed men awakened to the fact that their bird
was fast leaving them, and with oaths of madness they rushed down
the hill in pursuit.
It would be of no avail to fire shots now, as Little Hickory was beyond
the range of their weapons.
By the time they had gained the foot of “Flying Jump” he was out of
sight, having nearly gained the summit on the east, carried up half
the rise on his bicycle, when he sprang lightly to the ground and
continued his flight on foot.
“Curse him!” cried the leader of the masked men, “he’ll get away
from us. He must not.”
“He’s good’s done it, ’cording to my figuring,” replied a panting
companion. “Great Scott! how he winged it down the——”
“Fool! if you and Jed hadn’t been sich blunderers, he’d been our
game now.”
“Don’t be too sure on thet, old man. He’s a whirlwind, he is, and no
man would a stopped him once he got started.”
Little Hickory kept on home without seeing or hearing anything more
of his enemies, and what became of them was likely to remain
unknown.
He did not think it wise to speak of his adventure at home, as he
knew it would only make those at the old house uneasy and afraid to
remain there while he and Larry were away. So he greeted his
mother with his usual light-heartedness, though it was many days
before he fully recovered from the thrilling experience of coasting
“Flying Jump.”
On the morning of the Fourth of July, it being a holiday, he resolved
to take his first “day off” since coming to Break o’ Day, and though he
had no new suit to wear, as was the case with Larry, he brushed up
his old clothes, put on a new pair of pants, which he had been
obliged to buy, and started on foot.
It had been his wish that Joe should go with him, but she declared
that she could not think of that, as she had positively “nothing fit to
wear.” Besides, she was needed at home.
Thus we find Rob at Gainsboro, and no one was more surprised
than he at the declaration of Job Westcott to his friend Larry.
At this juncture one of the committee came hurriedly to the spot,
saying:
“Are you the young man who is to take the place of Mr. Snyder, who
was to speak here to-day? If so, come right along, for the people are
tired of waiting. It’s strange Snyder could not have notified us of this
arrangement before.”
Larry was thus suddenly placed in a position he could not
understand, and with the efforts of Job, he was taken to the
speaker’s stand before he had fully recovered from his surprise.
Then he looked around to find himself staring into the upturned faces
of the crowd of amazed people.
“Reel it off, Larry, jess as you did to me down in the hayfield t’other
day, and you’ll s’prise ’em all—especially Lucy!” whispered Job, as
he turned to go away. A moment later a few heard him say in a low
tone to himself:
“If this don’t make me even with Pluck Snyder, I’ll try ag’in!”
The chairman of the occasion by this time had arisen, and not
knowing personally the expected speaker, had begun to introduce
the “orator” in glowing terms as “the gifted son of the rich Orestes
Snyder, and the talented young lawyer of the silver tongue, destined
to make his mark in the world,” and much more in that line, until he
ended, and a breathless silence fell on the scene.
Was ever one in such a situation as Larry at that moment? One of
the committee whispered for him to rise and begin, while others half
lifted him to his feet.
He did not have either the courage or the presence of mind to
explain the mistake that had been made, even if he really
understood that one had been made. He simply did what seemed
the only thing for him to do. He began to repeat his stolen “oration.”
Larry’s voice rang out loud and clear, so that he caught the attention
of his listeners at the very outset. Then, all feeling of fear and
hesitation fled, fairly forgetting himself in his efforts, he went on with
the patriotic address ringing with eloquent expression and beautiful
descriptions.
It was evident that the good people of Gainsboro were being highly
pleased, and Larry Little, the impromptu orator, was soaring high in
one of Pluto Snyder’s most labored periods, when that person’s
voice broke on the hushed scene like a note sadly out of tune:
“Here, you farm lunkhead! that’s my oration. Stop! I say, stop! before
I have you arrested for stealing——”
The rest was lost in the midst of the hubbub his words had created,
while the irate speaker, fairly wild with anger and excitement,
continued to push the crowd aside, while he rushed toward the
platform.
It was a scene which made that Fourth of July at Gainsboro
memorable.
 CHAPTER XXIV.
“HIDE ME SOMEWHERE!”

“I tell you everybody says the old house is haunted, and only last
night I heard awful cries and groans, so I didn’t dare to lie in bed till I
went to sleep.”
Chick uttered these words, and his manner showed that he believed
what he said. Then Aunt Vinnie joined in, for it must be supposed
that this conversation was taking place at home.
“There, boy, that just agrees with what I’ve heerd. Only three nights
ago I lay awake and listened to the most distracting cries you ever
heerd. Seemed jess like a child crying when it began, and then it
sounded like a grown person, to end off with a terrible scream, as if it
were a ghost.”
“How do you know, Aunt Vinnie, that ghosts have such screams?”
asked Joe, who was inclined to discredit the story.
“They say,” spoke up Chick, “that an awful murder was done here
once. A man living here all alone was killed by another man working
for him, and it was supposed that this man died here himself, for he
was never seen afterward.”
“Oh, nonsense, Chick,” said Mrs. Bayne, “you must not believe all
you are told.”
“What everybody says must be so,” persisted Chick. “Ruddy has
heard as much as I have, only he darsn’t tell of it.”
“I had darst to speak of it,” retorted the latter. “And I heard Bill Wythe
say that he had been past here in the night when the house would
be all lighted from cellar to garret and nobody was living here then,
either.”
“He just told you that to frighten you, Ruddy,” said Joe. “I have not
seen anything strange since we came here.”
“I have,” affirmed Ruddy. “Just Thursday night——”
“You didn’t hear that Thursday night,” interrupted Chick.
“I did.”
“You didn’t. You were fast asleep and snoring all the time, ’cos I
prodded you——”
“I weren’t asleep any more’n you were, Chick Nobody. I was just a-
making believe to see what would be done.”
“You lie, Ruddy from Nowhere,” replied Chick. “And if you don’t take
back that name you called me I’ll lick you.”
“You can’t, nobody’s chicken, and you know it. I downed you only
yesterday in the garden, and——”
“I’ll show you how you downed me!” cried the redoubtable Chick,
catching hold of Ruddy.
“Stop, boys!” said Joe. “There is nothing to quarrel over. I wouldn’t
be so foolish.”
“He don’t sass me,” muttered Chick, giving Ruddy a push that sent
him reeling backward.
By this time the latter’s anger was raised, and springing to his feet he
rushed upon the other, when the twain closed in a furious struggle
for the mastery. In vain the older members of the group tried to part
them.
“Oh, dearie me!” cried Aunt Vinnie, “them boys will be the death and
destruction of me. Here, Chick! here, Ruddy! do stop that fighting.
Oh, luddy! they’ll pull their lights and livers right out’n their bodies.
I’m thankful thet I was never a boy!”
Joe was about to interpose again, when she discovered some one
coming up the road at a run.
“It’s Mary,” she declared. “It must be they have let her off from work
this afternoon. How anxious she must be to get home, the way she is
coming.”
“She is crying,” said Mrs. Little. “Why, Mary, what has happened?”
running forward to meet the girl, who was coming toward the house
as fast as she could run, her hair flying in the air and a wild, hunted
look on her face.
“They are after me!” she cried. “Don’t let them get me! Don’t let them
get me! I never did it! I never did it!”
Mary then fell into the outstretched arms of her mother, where she
lay without speaking, but sobbing as if her heart would break.
“What is it, Mary? what is it, my child?” begged the mother. “Tell me
the worst, Mary; if it be ever so bad I’ll not believe it.”
Joe and the others were now beside them, and doing what they
could to soothe the weeping girl.
“Let’s get her into the house,” said Joe.
“Hide me somewhere!” implored Mary. “Don’t let ’em get me. I never
stole the things.”
“Who said you stole?” asked her mother.
“Mrs. Cornhill and the rest. They claim they have been missing
things right along since I have been there, but I never took a thing. I
do not care what they say.”
“Don’t let that worry you, my child. We will not believe it, and they
shall not touch you.”
“They will!” she panted. “The sheriff is after me now. I ran away from
him and the others, but they are following me. I ran all the way up
here.”
“I wish Rob was here,” said Joe, the tears filling her eyes. “But they
shan’t take you away, Mary, if we can help it.”
“You can’t. Let me hide somewhere.”
“You shall,” cried her mother. “Come into the house.”
The others followed the mother and her daughter, not knowing what
to do or say.
“I do not believe they will come way up here after you,” said Joe,
more hopefully than she felt.
“They will. I heard ’Squire Hardy say that he would send every one of
us to the jail or county farm inside of two weeks. And that boy of his
shouted after me, and when I ran he gave chase. He overtook me,
but when he tried to drag me back, or hold me until the sheriff got
there, I pushed him over the bank and ran again.”
“Did—did you kill him?” fairly gasped her mother.
“I don’t know. Where can I hide?”
Confused and excited, the others began to look about for some
corner or place of concealment for the fugitive girl, without stopping
to think if it was right or wrong to do so, when Chick dashed into the
house crying:
“They are coming—right here—’Squire Hardy, Sheriff Stanyan, and
two or three others!”
“We’re too late!” moaned Mrs. Little. “I will fight before they shall take
her away.”
“You must not do that,” said Joe. “Then they would take you, too.
Quick, mother, get Mary into the closet in my room, while I go out
and stop them, so they shall not come into the house.”
By the time the brave Joe had reached the door the officer and his
companions were within a few yards of the house.
At sight of her they stopped, the sheriff saying:
“We want the girl who has been at work to Deacon Cornhill’s. If she
will come out peacefully the rest of you will not be troubled.”
“At this time,” added ’Squire Hardy.
“What do you want of Mary Little?” asked Joe, showing very little fear
as she spoke.
“I am not obliged to answer that, miss. Stand aside and let me come
in.”
“This is our house, sir, and I do not know as I am obliged to let you
come in until you have told me your errand.”
Joe was surprised at the calmness with which she spoke, and she
stood at her post undaunted.
“I will show the little vixen who is who!” cried the infuriated sheriff.
“Let me come in, girl, or I will——”
“Don’t do anything rash, Stanyan,” admonished Hardy. “If we
manage this right we can land the whole crowd in jail before night.”
 CHAPTER XXV.
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS.

“Isn’t there another door?” asked the sheriff. “I do not care to meddle
with this vixen if I can help it.”
“You had better not,” cried Joe, but her heart began to fail as she
realized how helpless she was. She could only hope that the others
had succeeded in secreting Mary so the officers could not find her.
But if they did, what then?
The sheriff lost no time in seeking the side door, ’Squire Hardy and
one of the men remaining in front, as if he was afraid to face the
brave girl in the doorway alone.
“It will be better for the girl to come along peaceably,” he said.
But Joe made no reply, while she listened for sounds of what was
taking place within the house.
Sheriff Stanyan did not gain an entrance until Mary had been
concealed in a closet, but the frightened aspect of the little group in
the room told the keen-eyed officer that he was on the right track.
“Where is the girl?” he demanded. “Oh, she need not think she can
escape me. I saw her enter this house, and I will find her if we have
to tear the old shell down. It is a fitting abode for such as you, and
you may thank your stars that I am not after the whole of you.”
Mrs. Bayne tried to speak, but the words died away in a whisper,
while Mrs. Little could only sob out her anguish.
At that moment Mr. Little, leaning heavily on his cane, entered the
room. He had overheard enough to know what was causing the
excitement, and facing the sheriff, he said, defiantly:
“Our daughter a thief! never, sir! Begone from these premises, and
never darken——”
“So you dare to offer resistance?” cried the officer. “Nothing suits me
better than to snap these handcuffs on your wrists, which, no doubt,
have felt their like before.”
The women screamed, and Mr. Little, in his righteous indignation,
ordered the sheriff to stand back. In the midst of the scene the door
opened, and Mary stepped into the apartment, saying:
“Let them take me, father. It will be better so. I am not a thief, but it
does not matter what they will do with me.”
Tears and cries of pain followed, but they availed nothing. Eager to
finish his work, the officer took Mary Little by the arm and led her
from the room, his associates covering his retreat.
“Don’t let them rob me of my child!” moaned the distracted mother;
but her grief and her appeals fell on hearts of stone.
Joe Willet realized how futile had been their defence, as she saw the
exultant party drive away with poor Mary in their midst, a prisoner,
charged with stealing from her employer.
At the same time Mary was being taken away by Sheriff Stanyan,
Larry Little, without dreaming of the ill fate which had overtaken his
sister, was the central figure in a scene of most peculiar and vivid
interest.
The young orator paused suddenly in the midst of his speech, and at
sight of Pluto Snyder the following words issued from his lips:
“Get down there, you cow-headed——”
“Stop the fool!” cried some one, directing his remarks against the
newcomer, rather than Larry.
A constable happening to stand near, and misunderstanding the real
situation, he seized upon Pluto and began to drag him from the
scene. The more the hapless young Snyder struggled the firmer he
was held in the grasp of the officer, who showed him no mercy, but
pulled him away, while the crowd cheered him for his efforts.
In a moment the quiet was restored, but Larry stood dumb with
dismay, unable to know what to do.
“Go on!” cried Job Westcott. “That fellow shan’t pester you any
more.”
Others urged Larry to proceed, and, like one taking a leap in the
dark, he again began his speech. The well-rounded periods of the
law student gone from him, Larry was obliged to depend upon
himself. It was the best thing that could have happened to him.
Fortunately, too, he selected a subject familiar to him, and in glowing
language he pictured the lives of those lowly ones dwelling in the
narrow streets and dark alleys of the great city who had never heard
of a Fourth of July, much less tasted of its joys.
As he kept on, Larry really waxed eloquent, and for more than twenty
minutes he held his listeners’ undivided attention.
It was an address which is still talked over at Gainsboro. At its close
a deafening applause, which lasted for several minutes, rang up and
down the grove.
When he stepped down from the platform Larry was greeted by a
circle of admirers, and as soon as she could reach his side Lucy
came forward with her compliments, which were worth more than all
the other praise showered upon him. But he was too confused to
speak intelligently.
“It was all a mistake—a miserable mistake, and——”
At this juncture Pluto Snyder, having broken from his captors,
reached the spot, and, boiling with rage, cried out:
“Let me get at the hoodlum! He stole my speech—he is a sneaking
——”
Seeing Lucy standing by Larry, he suddenly stopped his storm of
abuse, saying, in a milder tone:
“You here, Miss Lucy, in the company of such a scapegoat? Let us
go home, and I will tell you of the miserable trick he played on me.”
Lucy Howlitt, to whom all this was a mystery, not liking the
appearance of Mr. Snyder under his excitement, declined to go
home with him, pleading that her father was waiting for her.
Thereupon the crestfallen law student went away in a high dudgeon,
using language neither becoming a gentleman or fit to be spoken in
the presence of a lady.
“Come, Lawrence,” said Lucy, “you will please ride home with papa
and me. There is plenty of room, and I want to hear your explanation
of this affair. I did not dream you were capable of making such an
address.”
As she would not take no for an answer, and Mr. Howlitt joined his
invitation with his daughter’s, Larry could do no better than to accept.
On the way home he showed his innate honesty by confessing to all
he knew of the matter of the speech, which did not throw much light
on the situation, though, to his joy, neither Mr. Howlitt nor Lucy
blamed him.
“You say the last part was original with you?” said Lucy. “I think that
was altogether the best, and I am proud of you, Lawrence.”
“Pluto Snyder is a silly coxcomb,” said her father, “and I am glad if he
has been taken down a notch.”
The next day Job Westcott acknowledged that he had caused young
Snyder to miss coming to the celebration in season to address the
meeting, and that his coming at all was simply because the one left
in charge of Pluto had been bought off by the irate “orator.”
“I’ll l’arn him how to use offensive stuff to me. I jess paid off an old
debt, and Larry weren’t a whit to blame. But, by gum! didn’t he hum
with madness! I tell ye, ye never see what it is for one to be mad till
ye hev seen a fool lose his temper.”
Though the Howlitts were disposed to blame Job for the part he had
taken, Larry rose in their estimation, and another’s loss was his gain.
A little later Larry forgot all about his recent triumph by hearing of the
fate which had befallen his sister, and he lost no time in going home
to learn the whole truth.
 CHAPTER XXVI.
FROM BAD TO WORSE.

The arrest of Mary Little for theft at Deacon Cornhill’s was a bitter
blow to her friends, none of whom could believe her guilty.
Rob lost no time in going to the Cornhill home, hoping that he could
enlist the folks in her favor, or, at least, get at the truth of the matter.
But he found Mrs. Cornhill fully convinced of Mary’s guilt, and
severely blaming herself that she had ever let the “idle hussy into the
house.”
It was in vain that Rob pleaded that Mary had been a faithful servant.
The fact remained that Mrs. Cornhill had been missing article after
article from the household ever since the girl had come to work for
her. She had not spoken of this at first, as she had been so favorably
impressed by her that she had hesitated about accusing her of such
misdoings. Finally, after watching and waiting for weeks, she had felt
obliged to act in the matter.
Deacon Cornhill was now so far recovered from his recent illness as
to sit up in his great easy-chair, though he was but a shadow of his
former genial self.
“Don’t be hard on the gal, Mandy,” he said, compassionately. “No
doubt she was driven to it. The articles were not worth very——”
“Tweren’t the wurth, but the principle in it,” snapped his wife. “Arter
the way I treated her, to hev the idle hussy turn on us just at this time
of all others,” and the good woman fell to crying.
“Don’t break down, Mandy,” said he, but his own voice was husky
and Rob was sure there were tears in his eyes.
Mistaking the cause of this emotion Rob spoke more hopefully, when
he learned that he and his friends were not alone in their
misfortunes, as disaster had overtaken this family. It proved that
Deacon Cornhill had become responsible for large sums of money
through another individual, and this person proving worthless, he
was held for the full amount. When paid, practically every dollar
would be swept away, and he and his family would be turned out of
their home penniless.
“The earnings of two lives, my father’s and mine, are thus lost, and
Mandy and I are homeless and friendless; for, at this time, when we
need our friends most, there is not one to speak a consoling word. I
eenamost wish the fever had done its work, for I had rather been laid
in my grave than to have lived to see this day.”
“Oh, Elihu! it is wicked to talk like that,” said his wife. “But it is
dreadful to be robbed of our home at this time in life.”
Rob went away feeling that he was not alone in his misfortunes, and
when he told the others at Break o’ Day good Deacon Cornhill had
several sincere sympathizers, if they were helpless to aid him.
The arrest of Mary, who was then taken to jail, where she must
remain until her trial, nearly two months later, cast a gloom over the
entire party, as they could do nothing for her.
Rob returned to work at Deacon Cornhill’s, where he was greatly
needed, every other hand having deserted him at this critical time,
on the ground that he could not pay them. As much as he needed
his wages, Little Hickory resolved to take his chances, pitying the
unfortunate man in his distress, and believing he would eventually
pay him all that was due to him.
Larry remained at Mr. Howlitt’s, probably the happiest of the entire
number who had come to Basinburg.
So far Tom and Jerry had not found situations to work, and had
remained at home. But Rob secured a chance for employment in a
portable sawmill, where they went to work.
This was a severe “breaking in” for them, and more than once both
were on the verge of throwing up their jobs. Probably the only thing
that kept them at work was the fear that Little Hickory would send
them back. Their task was to take away boards after they had been
thrown from the carriage by the sawyer, and at times they had to
hustle to keep the “run” clear. Not a night but found them glad to
seek their rude bunks at an early hour, where they slept “like Turks,”
as the expression goes.
As the mill was located more than three miles from home, and stood
in the midst of the timber-lot, they did not go home oftener than once
a week.
They boarded with the rest of the hands in the “shanty,” but, as there
was not room enough for them there to sleep, they had to make up
“shake-downs” in the mill. As it was warm weather they rather liked
this arrangement.
They were reasonably faithful to their employer, and everything
appeared to be going on well, until one afternoon, while the sawyer
was crowding them uncommonly hard with boards, they got behind,
so that the course got completely filled.
Now, it is always easier to keep square with one’s work than to catch
up, once any time is lost. The fault, such as it was, was really Tom’s,
as he had taken half an hour’s rest, saying it would be an easy
matter to clear the run.
But the time lost could not be recovered, and in vain they worked to
gain what they had neglected to keep. The sawyer was a crusty old
man, who shouted angrily to them to clear the way. Unfortunately,
the boss happened along just then, and, seeing the situation, he
ordered that another hand should be put on the work.
Tom resented this, and answered back somewhat hastily. Bitter
words followed, and almost before he knew it, Tom had lost his
situation and Jerry was frightened over the affair.
It was then nearly night, and, having a dread of going home, Tom
resolved to remain with his brother until morning, intending then to
acknowledge his fault and beg of the boss to be allowed to return to
his post. Had he done this then and there it would have saved him
an ordeal of which he little dreamed.
It could not have been far from midnight, as he was tossing uneasily
on his rough couch, while he pondered upon his recent mistake,
when he heard some one moving about the mill. Then he discovered
two youths a little older than himself moving cautiously about the
premises.
One of the couple carried a lighted torch in his hand, and which he
kept moving to and from as he led his companion over the place.
“Look out, Phil,” said the latter, “or you will set the old shell on fire.”
“Sho! this wouldn’t burn, it’s so green,” and, as if to prove his words,
he thrust the burning brand into the midst of a pile of combustible
matter. To his dismay, the dried material instantly ignited, and the
flames sprang upward with a suddenness and fury that frightened
the newcomers.
“You have set the mill on fire!” gasped the other.
“Quick!” exclaimed the one who had done the mischief, dropping the
torch in his terror, “run for your life, Nate. We must not be found
here.”
By this time Tom had sprung from his couch, but he was too late to
stop the runaway boys, though he did reach the scene of the fire and
just picked up the smoldering torch as one of the millmen, who had
been attracted by its light, appeared on the scene.
“Here, you little devil!” he roared. “Trying to burn up the mill, are you?
It’s lucky I have caught you at your devilish work.”
Tom was powerless to flee, if he had wished to, and in a moment he
found himself flung to the floor by a pair of strong arms, and just as
his brother reached the spot he was tied hands and feet.
Jerry was then seized and treated in the same manner.
Though others came speedily to the scene the fire had gained such
headway in a short time that the mill was burned down in spite of all
that could be done to save it.
In vain Tom and Jerry pleaded their innocence. The latter had not
seen the two boys prowling about the place, and Tom’s story was
ridiculed until he held his tongue in bitter silence. His quarrel with the
boss of the previous afternoon was retold, and, with the hatred of