Generalized pseudo-equinoctial shaping
Shape-based initial guess that makes trajectory optimization converge up to five times faster.
- thrust
- coast
- eclipse
- GTO
- GEO
About
I am an aerospace engineer with a background in astrodynamics, mission design, and trajectory optimization, and my work focuses on low-thrust trajectories. My research develops numerical methods that find these trajectories reliably, and it has been applied to the servicing of space telescopes and to mission design software at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I received my Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2025, and I was most recently a postdoctoral researcher with the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation and a visiting researcher at JPL.
Projects
Multi-parameter homotopy for many-revolution transfers
Indirect method for transfers with hundreds of revolutions and eclipses.
Servicing space telescopes at Sun–Earth L2
Low-thrust transfers to service telescopes such as JWST and Gaia.
spicelovr
Virtual-reality viewer for SPICE trajectories on Meta Quest headsets; in development.
Experience
- 2025 – 2026Postdoctoral Research Associate and Visiting Researcher, Cal Poly Pomona Foundation and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Developed a shape-based initial-guess algorithm that seeds JPL's Malto low-thrust design software, improving solver runtime up to fivefold against its built-in ballistic seed.
Taught a graduate optimal control course and mentored undergraduates in the STARS program.
- 2021 – 2025Graduate Research Assistant, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
Developed a multi-parameter homotopy algorithm for indirect optimal control that solves minimum-time and minimum-fuel low-thrust transfers with hundreds of revolutions.
- 2023Flight Dynamics Engineer Intern, Continuum Space Systems, Pasadena, CA
Implemented a hybrid low-thrust optimization algorithm in Julia that combines indirect and direct methods with orbit-averaged dynamics for rapid preliminary design.
- 2022Graduate Fellow (JPLGF), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Analyzed ballistic and low-thrust cislunar transfer options for Gateway's Power and Propulsion Element.
- 2021Graduate Fellow (JPLGF), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Designed Earth–Mars cycler trajectories for the Solar System Pony Express NIAC concept.
- 2019 – 2020Visiting Student Researcher (JVSRP), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Investigated low-energy transfers from geosynchronous transfer orbit to lunar libration orbits for rideshare small satellites.
Education
- 2021 – 2025Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
Thesis: Novel methods for high-fidelity low-thrust spacecraft trajectory optimization and mission design.
- 2018 – 2020M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering, cum laude, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
Thesis: Low-energy transfers from GTO to lunar halo orbits.
- 2015 – 2018B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering, cum laude, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Skills
- Coding
- Julia, Python, MATLAB, C++
- Software
- Git, Docker, Linux, LaTeX
- Toolkits
- MONTE, Malto, NAIF SPICE, GMAT, CasADi
Publications
Journal articles
- A. Pascarella, R. Woollands. “Multi-parameter homotopy methods for optimal many-revolution low-thrust transfers with eclipse constraints.” Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2026, under review.
- A. Pascarella, N. Nakhjiri, E. Taheri, et al. “Generalized pseudo-equinoctial shaping for preliminary low-thrust trajectory design.” The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, 2026, under review.
- B. C. Cline, A. Pascarella, R. M. Woollands, J. L. Rovey. “Indirect optimal control techniques for multimode propulsion mission design.” Acta Astronautica, vol. 223, pp. 759–776, 2024. DOI
- A. Pascarella, R. Bommena, S. Eggl, R. Woollands. “Mission design for space telescope servicing at Sun–Earth L2.” Acta Astronautica, vol. 224, pp. 397–414, 2024. DOI
- A. Pascarella, R. Woollands, E. Pellegrini, M. Sanchez Net, H. Xie, J. Vander Hook. “Low-thrust trajectory optimization for the Solar System Pony Express.” Acta Astronautica, vol. 203, pp. 280–290, 2023. DOI
- B. Patrick, A. Pascarella, R. Woollands. “Hybrid optimization of high-fidelity low-thrust transfers to the Lunar Gateway.” The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, vol. 70, 2023. DOI
Conference papers
- B. C. Cline, A. Pascarella, R. M. Woollands, J. L. Rovey. “Indirect optimal control techniques for multimode propulsion mission design.” AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum, 2024. DOI
- A. Pascarella, R. M. Woollands. “Adaptive Picard–Chebyshev methods for bang-bang control dynamics.” AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum, 2024. DOI