Michael Minovitch

Michael Andrew Minovitch (born c. 1936)[1] is an American mathematician who produced spacecraft trajectories enabling a craft to gain velocity by travelling close to a planet orbiting the sun. His own personal gravity assist technique was developed in the early 1960s when he was a UCLA graduate student and working summers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.[2][3] In 1961 Minovitch began using the fastest available computer at the time, the IBM 7090, to solve the three-body problem. He ran simulations and developed his own solution by 1962.[1]

Michael A. Minovitch
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCalifornia
UCLA
Known forCalculating spacecraft trajectories
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
Doctoral advisorShoshichi Kobayashi

Early studies of comets in the late 19th century showed that their orbits were quite different after they had made a close approach to Jupiter. This indicated that a transfer of energy had occurred during the encounter.

The first mission to use a gravity assist was Pioneer 10, which increased its velocity from 52,000 km/h to 132,000 km/h as it passed by Jupiter in December, 1973.[4][5]

Inventions

Minovitch patented a vehicle for space travel under the patent title Magnetic propulsion system and operating method, US Patent 6193194 B1.

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References
  1. Christopher Riley and Dallas Campbell (October 23, 2012). "The maths that made Voyager possible". BBC News. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  2. Minovitch, Michael (July 11, 1961). "An Alternative Method for Determination of Elliptic and Hyperbolic Trajectories" (PDF). Jet Propulsion Laboratory Technical Memos (TM-312-118). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Minovitch, Michael (August 23, 1961). "A Method For Determining Interplanetary Free-Fall Reconnaissance Trajectories" (PDF). Jet Propulsion Laboratory Technical Memos (TM-312-130): 38–44. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "The Pioneer Missions". nasa.gov. March 26, 2007. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
  5. Bill Casselman. "Slingshots and Space shots". American Mathematical Society. Retrieved 2015-01-29.


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