README.md

Porkchop Plot Generator

This project generates porkchop plots for interplanetary trajectory analysis. The plots provide valuable insights into the delta-v requirements for different transfer opportunities between celestial bodies.

Features

• Fetches data from JPL Horizons API
• Computes Lambert solutions for given departure and arrival windows
• Visualize results with contour plots

Example Plots

Below are example plots generated by this tool:

Dependencies

• Python 3.0+
• NumPy
• Matplotlib

Installing Python Dependencies

Python packages can be easily and conveniently installed using pip via the command-line like so:

$ python3 -m pip install {package_name}

In the case of this repository, all python dependencies can be installed in one command using the requirements.txt file:

$ python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

To generate a porkchop plot, run the following:

$ python3 main.py

Configuration parameters

The user can modify the following parameters in the main.py file:

# config parameters for porkchop plot generator
config = {
    'planet0'       : planetary_data.earth[ 'ID' ], # Departure planet
    'planet1'       : planetary_data.mars[ 'ID' ],  # Target planet
    'departure0'    : '2020-07-01',                 # Intial departure date
    'departure1'    : '2020-09-01',                 # Final departure date
    'arrival0'      : '2020-11-01',                 # Initial arrival date
    'arrival1'      : '2022-01-24',                 # Final arrival date
    'mu'            : pd.sun[ 'mu' ],               # Gravitational parameter
    'step'          : 5,                            # Step size in days
    'frame'         : 'J2000',                      # Ecliptic of J2000
    'observer'      : '500@0',                      # Solar Sytem Barycenter
    'cutoff_v'      : 20.0,                         # Maximum vinf   
    'c3_levels'     : None,                         # C3 levels for contour plot
    'vinf_levels'   : None,                         # vinf levels for contour plot
    'tof_levels'    : None,                         # tof levels for contour plot
    'dv_levels'     : None,                         # dv levels for contour plot
    'dv_cmap'       : 'RdPu_r',                     # color map for dv contours
    'figsize'       : ( 6, 10 ),                    # figure size for contour plot
    'lw'            : 1.5,                          # linewidth for contour lines
    'title'         : 'Porkchop Plot',              # Plot title
    'fontsize'      : 15,                           # Axes fontsize
    'show'          : True,                         # For displaying the figure
    'filename'      : None,                         # Specify filename for C3 plot
    'filename_dv'   : None,                         # Specify filename for dv plot
    'dpi'           : 300,                          # Specify target dpi