Direct and indirect capture of near-Earth asteroids in the Earth–Moon system

Near-Earth asteroids have attracted attention for both scientific and commercial mission applications. Due to the fact that the Earth–Moon \(\hbox {L}_{1}\) and \(\hbox {L}_{2}\) points are candidates for gateway stations for lunar exploration, and an ideal location for space science, capturing asteroids and inserting them into periodic orbits around these points is of significant interest for the future. In this paper, we define a new type of lunar asteroid capture, termed direct capture. In this capture strategy, the candidate asteroid leaves its heliocentric orbit after an initial impulse, with its dynamics modeled using the Sun–Earth–Moon restricted four-body problem until its insertion, with a second impulse, onto the \(\hbox {L}_{2}\) stable manifold in the Earth–Moon circular restricted three-body problem. A Lambert arc in the Sun-asteroid two-body problem is used as an initial guess and a differential corrector used to generate the transfer trajectory from the asteroid’s initial obit to the stable manifold associated with Earth–Moon \(\hbox {L}_{2}\) point. Results show that the direct asteroid capture strategy needs a shorter flight time compared to an indirect asteroid capture, which couples capture in the Sun–Earth circular restricted three-body problem and subsequent transfer to the Earth–Moon circular restricted three-body problem. Finally, the direct and indirect asteroid capture strategies are also applied to consider capture of asteroids at the triangular libration points in the Earth–Moon system.     

Control of chaos in the vicinity of the Earth‐Moon L5 Lagrangian point to keep a spacecraft in orbit

The concept of Space Manifold Dynamics is a new method of space research. We have applied it along with the basic idea of the method of Ott, Grebogi, and York (OGY method) to stabilize the motion of a spacecraft around the triangular Lagrange point L₅ of the Earth‐Moon system. We have determined the escape rate of the trajectories in the general three‐ and four‐body problem and estimated the average lifetime of the particles. Integrating the two models we mapped in detail the phase space around the L₅ point of the Earth‐Moon system. Using the phase space portrait our next goal was to apply a modified OGY method to keep a spacecraft close to the vicinity of L₅. We modified the equation of motions with the addition of a time dependent force to the motion of the spacecraft. In our orbit‐keeping procedure there are three free parameters: (i) the magnitude of the thrust, (ii) the start time, and (iii) the length of the control. Based on our numerical experiments we were able to determine possible values for these parameters and successfully apply a control phase to a spacecraft to keep it on orbit around L₅. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of the Earth’s compression on the physical libration of the Moon

The effect of the Earth??s compression on the physical libration of the Moon is studied using a new vector method. The moment of gravitational forces exerted on the Moon by the oblate Earth is derived considering second order harmonics. The terms in the expression for this moment are arranged according to their order of magnitude. The contribution due to a spherically symmetric Earth proves to be greater by a factor of 1.34 × 10⁶ than a typical term allowing for the oblateness. A linearized Euler system of equations to describe the Moon??s rotation with allowance for external gravitational forces is given. A full solution of the differential equation describing the Moon??s libration in longitude is derived. This solution includes both arbitrary and forced oscillation harmonics that we studied earlier (perturbations due to a spherically symmetric Earth and the Sun) and new harmonics due to the Earth??s compression. We posed and solved the problem of spinorbital motion considering the orientation of the Earth??s rotation axis with regard to the axes of inertia of the Moon when it is at a random point in its orbit. The rotation axes of the Earth and the Moon are shown to become coplanar with each other when the orbiting Moon has an ecliptic longitude of L _? = 90° or L _? = 270°. The famous Cassini??s laws describing the motion of the Moon are supplemented by the rule for coplanarity when proper rotations in the Earth-Moon system are taken into account. When we consider the effect of the Earth??s compression on the Moon??s libration in longitude, a harmonic with an amplitude of 0.03?? and period of T ₈ = 9.300 Julian years appears. This amplitude exceeds the most noticeable harmonic due to the Sun by a factor of nearly 2.7. The effect of the Earth??s compression on the variation in spin angular velocity of the Moon proves to be negligible.     

Fuel optimization for low-thrust Earth–Moon transfer via indirect optimal control

The problem of designing low-energy transfers between the Earth and the Moon has attracted recently a major interest from the scientific community. In this paper, an indirect optimal control approach is used to determine minimum-fuel low-thrust transfers between a low Earth orbit and a Lunar orbit in the Sun–Earth–Moon Bicircular Restricted Four-Body Problem. First, the optimal control problem is formulated and its necessary optimality conditions are derived from Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle. Then, two different solution methods are proposed to overcome the numerical difficulties arising from the huge sensitivity of the problem’s state and costate equations. The first one consists in the use of continuation techniques. The second one is based on a massive exploration of the set of unknown variables appearing in the optimality conditions. The dimension of the search space is reduced by considering adapted variables leading to a reduction of the computational time. The trajectories found are classified in several families according to their shape, transfer duration and fuel expenditure. Finally, an analysis based on the dynamical structure provided by the invariant manifolds of the two underlying Circular Restricted Three-Body Problems, Earth–Moon and Sun–Earth is presented leading to a physical interpretation of the different families of trajectories.     

On the construction of low-energy cislunar and translunar transfers based on the libration points

There exist cislunar and translunar libration points near the Moon, which are referred to as the LL ₁ and LL ₂ points, respectively. They can generate the different types of low-energy trajectories transferring from Earth to Moon. The time-dependent analytic model including the gravitational forces from the Sun, Earth, and Moon is employed to investigate the energy-minimal and practical transfer trajectories. However, different from the circular restricted three-body problem, the equivalent gravitational equilibria are defined according to the geometry of the instantaneous Hill boundary due to the gravitational perturbation from the Sun. The relationship between the altitudes of periapsis and eccentricities is achieved from the Poincaré mapping for all the captured lunar trajectories, which presents the statistical feature of the fuel cost and captured orbital elements rather than generating a specified Moon-captured segment. The minimum energy required by the captured trajectory on a lunar circular orbit is deduced in the spatial bi-circular model. The idea is presented that the asymptotical behaviors of invariant manifolds approaching to/traveling from the libration points or halo orbits are destroyed by the solar perturbation. In fact, the energy-minimal cislunar transfer trajectory is acquired by transiting the LL ₁ point, while the energy-minimal translunar transfer trajectory is obtained by transiting the LL ₂ point. Finally, the transfer opportunities for the practical trajectories that have escaped from the Earth and have been captured by the Moon are yielded by the transiting halo orbits near the LL ₁ and LL ₂ points, which can be used to generate the whole of the trajectories.     

Optimal low-thrust transfers between libration point orbits

Over the past three decades, ballistic and impulsive trajectories between libration point orbits (LPOs) in the Sun–Earth–Moon system have been investigated to a large extent. It is known that coupling invariant manifolds of LPOs of two different circular restricted three-body problems (i.e., the Sun–Earth and the Earth–Moon systems) can lead to significant mass savings in specific transfers, such as from a low Earth orbit to the Moon’s vicinity. Previous investigations on this issue mainly considered the use of impulsive maneuvers along the trajectory. Here we investigate the dynamical effects of replacing impulsive ΔV’s with low-thrust trajectory arcs to connect LPOs using invariant manifold dynamics. Our investigation shows that the use of low-thrust propulsion in a particular phase of the transfer and the adoption of a more realistic Sun–Earth–Moon four-body model can provide better and more propellant-efficient solution. For this purpose, methods have been developed to compute the invariant tori and their manifolds in this dynamical model.     

A note on the dynamics around the Lagrange collinear points of the Earth–Moon system in a complete Solar System model

In this paper we study the dynamics of a massless particle around the L _1,2 libration points of the Earth–Moon system in a full Solar System gravitational model. The study is based on the analysis of the quasi-periodic solutions around the two collinear equilibrium points. For the analysis and computation of the quasi-periodic orbits, a new iterative algorithm is introduced which is a combination of a multiple shooting method with a refined Fourier analysis of the orbits computed with the multiple shooting. Using as initial seeds for the algorithm the libration point orbits of Circular Restricted Three Body Problem, determined by Lindstedt-Poincaré methods, the procedure is able to refine them in the Solar System force-field model for large time-spans, that cover most of the relevant Sun–Earth–Moon periods.     

Mars interplanetary trajectory design via Lagrangian points

With the increase in complexities of interplanetary missions, the main focus has shifted to reducing the total delta-V for the entire mission and hence increasing the payload capacity of the spacecraft. This paper develops a trajectory to Mars using the Lagrangian points of the Sun-Earth system and the Sun-Mars system. The whole trajectory can be broadly divided into three stages: (1) Trajectory from a near-Earth circular parking orbit to a halo orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrangian point L₂. (2) Trajectory from Sun-Earth L₂ halo orbit to Sun-Mars L₁ halo orbit. (3) Sun-Mars L₁ halo orbit to a circular orbit around Mars. The stable and unstable manifolds of the halo orbits are used for halo orbit insertion. The intermediate transfer arcs are designed using two-body Lambert’s problem. The total delta-V for the whole trajectory is computed and found to be lesser than that for the conventional trajectories. For a 480 km Earth parking orbit, the total delta-V is found to be 4.6203 km/s. Another advantage in the present approach is that delta-V does not depend upon the synodic period of Earth with respect to Mars.     

Study of lunar gravity assist orbits in the restricted four-body problem

In this paper, the lunar gravity assist (LGA) orbits starting from the Earth are investigated in the Sun–Earth–Moon–spacecraft restricted four-body problem (RFBP). First of all, the sphere of influence of the Earth–Moon system (SOIEM) is derived. Numerical calculation displays that inside the SOIEM, the effect of the Sun on the LGA orbits is quite small, but outside the SOIEM, the Sun perturbation can remarkably influence the trend of the LGA orbit. To analyze the effect of the Sun, the RFBP outside the SOIEM is approximately replaced by a planar circular restricted three-body problem, where, in the latter case, the Sun and the Earth–Moon barycenter act as primaries. The stable manifolds associated with the libration point orbit and their Poincaré sections on the SOIEM are applied to investigating the LGA orbit. According to our research, the patched LGA orbits on the Poincaré sections can efficiently distinguish the transit LGA orbits from the non-transit LGA orbits under the RFBP. The former orbits can pass through the region around libration point away from the SOIEM, but the latter orbits will bounce back to the SOIEM. Besides, the stable transit probability is defined and analyzed. According to the variant requirement of the space mission, the results obtained can help us select the LGA orbit and the launch window.     

Sun–Earth L_{1} and L_{2} to Moon transfers exploiting natural dynamics

This paper examines the design of transfers from the Sun–Earth libration orbits, at the \(L_{1}\) and \(L_{2}\) points, towards the Moon using natural dynamics in order to assess the feasibility of future disposal or lifetime extension operations. With an eye to the probably small quantity of propellant left when its operational life has ended, the spacecraft leaves the libration point orbit on an unstable invariant manifold to bring itself closer to the Earth and Moon. The total trajectory is modeled in the coupled circular restricted three-body problem, and some preliminary study of the use of solar radiation pressure is also provided. The concept of survivability and event maps is introduced to obtain suitable conditions that can be targeted such that the spacecraft impacts, or is weakly captured by, the Moon. Weak capture at the Moon is studied by method of these maps. Some results for planar Lyapunov orbits at \(L_{1}\) and \(L_{2}\) are given, as well as some results for the operational orbit of SOHO.     

Study of the transfer between libration point orbits and lunar orbits in Earth–Moon system

This paper is devoted to the study of the transfer problem from a libration point orbit of the Earth–Moon system to an orbit around the Moon. The transfer procedure analysed has two legs: the first one is an orbit of the unstable manifold of the libration orbit and the second one is a transfer orbit between a certain point on the manifold and the final lunar orbit. There are only two manoeuvres involved in the method and they are applied at the beginning and at the end of the second leg. Although the numerical results given in this paper correspond to transfers between halo orbits around the \(L_1\) point (of several amplitudes) and lunar polar orbits with altitudes varying between 100 and 500 km, the procedure we develop can be applied to any kind of lunar orbits, libration orbits around the \(L_1\) or \(L_2\) points of the Earth–Moon system, or to other similar cases with different values of the mass ratio.     

Cylindrical isomorphic mapping applied to invariant manifold dynamics for Earth–Moon Missions

Several families of periodic orbits exist in the context of the circular restricted three-body problem. This work studies orbital motion of a spacecraft among these periodic orbits in the Earth–Moon system, using the planar circular restricted three-body problem model. A new cylindrical representation of the spacecraft phase space (i.e., position and velocity) is described, and allows representing periodic orbits and the related invariant manifolds. In the proximity of the libration points, the manifolds form a four-fold surface, if the cylindrical coordinates are employed. Orbits departing from the Earth and transiting toward the Moon correspond to the trajectories located inside this four-fold surface. The isomorphic mapping under consideration is also useful for describing the topology of the invariant manifolds, which exhibit a complex geometrical stretch-and-folding behavior as the associated trajectories reach increasing distances from the libration orbit. Moreover, the cylindrical representation reveals extremely useful for detecting periodic orbits around the primaries and the libration points, as well as the possible existence of heteroclinic connections. These are asymptotic trajectories that are ideally traveled at zero-propellant cost. This circumstance implies the possibility of performing concretely a variety of complex Earth–Moon missions, by combining different types of trajectory arcs belonging to the manifolds. This work studies also the possible application of manifold dynamics to defining a suitable, convenient end-of-life strategy for spacecraft placed in any of the unstable orbits. The final disposal orbit is an externally confined trajectory, never approaching the Earth or the Moon, and can be entered by means of a single velocity impulse (of modest magnitude) along the right unstable manifold that emanates from the Lyapunov orbit at \(L_2\) .     

Disturbance compensating control of orbit radially aligned two-craft Coulomb formation

This paper investigates the orbit radial stabilization of a two-craft virtual Coulomb structure about circular orbits and at Earth–Moon libration points. A generic Lyapunov feedback controller is designed for asymptotically stabilizing an orbit radial configuration about circular orbits and collinear libration points. The new feedback controller at the libration points is provided as a generic control law in which circular Earth orbit control form a special case. This control law can withstand differential solar perturbation effects on the two-craft formation. Electrostatic Coulomb forces acting in the longitudinal direction control the relative distance between the two satellites and inertial electric propulsion thrusting acting in the transverse directions control the in-plane and out-of-plane attitude motions. The electrostatic virtual tether between the two craft is capable of both tensile and compressive forces. Using the Lyapunov’s second method the feedback control law guarantees closed loop stability. Numerical simulations using the non-linear control law are presented for circular orbits and at an Earth–Moon collinear libration point.     

Strategies for plane change of Earth orbits using lunar gravity and derived trajectories of family G

The dynamics of the circular restricted three-body Earth-Moon-particle problem predicts the existence of the retrograde periodic orbits around the Lagrangian equilibrium point L1. Such orbits belong to the so-called family G (Broucke, Periodic orbits in the restricted three-body problem with Earth-Moon masses, JPL Technical Report 32–1168, 1968) and starting from them it is possible to define a set of trajectories that form round trip links between the Earth and the Moon. These links occur even with more complex dynamical systems as the complete Sun-Earth-Moon-particle problem. One of the most remarkable properties of these trajectories, observed for the four-body problem, is a meaningful inclination gain when they penetrate into the lunar sphere of influence and accomplish a swing-by with the Moon. This way, when one of these trajectories returns to the proximities of the Earth, it will be in a different orbital plane from its initial Earth orbit. In this work, we present studies that show the possibility of using this property mainly to accomplish transfer maneuvers between two Earth orbits with different altitudes and inclinations, with low cost, taking into account the dynamics of the four-body problem and of the swing-by as well. The results show that it is possible to design a set of nominal transfer trajectories that require ΔV _Total less than conventional methods like Hohmann, bi-elliptic and bi-parabolic transfer with plane change.     

Gravitational lunar capture based on bicircular model in restricted four body problem

Gravitational capture is a useful phenomenon in the design of the low energy transfer (LET) orbit for a space mission. In this paper, gravitational lunar capture based on the Sun–Earth–Moon bicircular model (BCM) in the restricted four body problem is studied. By the mechanical analysis in the space near the Moon, we first propose a new parameter \(k\) , the corrected ratio of the radial force, to investigate the influence of the radial force on the capture eccentricity in the BCM. Then, a parametric analysis is performed to detect the influences on the corrected ratio \(k\) . Considering the restriction of time-of-flight and corrected ratio, we investigate, respectively, the minimum capture eccentricity and the corrected minimum capture eccentricity. Via numerical analysis, we discover two special regions on the sphere of capture, in which the capture point possesses the global minimum capture eccentricity and corrected capture eccentricity. They denote the optimal capture regions in terms of minimizing the fuel consumption of the maneuver. According to the results obtained, some suggestions on the design of the LET orbit are given.     

Computation of weak stability boundaries: Sun–Jupiter system

We compute the weak stability boundary in the planar circular restricted three-body problem starting from the algorithmic definition, and its generalization by García and Gómez. In addition, we consider a new set of primaries, Sun–Jupiter, to replace the case of Earth–Moon considered in previous studies. Numerical enhancements are described and compared to previous methods. This includes defining the equations of motion in polar coordinates and a modified numerical scheme for the derivation of both stable sets and their boundaries. These enhancements decrease the computational time. New results are obtained by considering the Sun–Jupiter case which we compare to the Earth–Moon case.     

月球探测器过渡轨道的短弧定轨方法

论述的短弧定轨,是指在无先验信息情况下又避开多变元迭代的初轨计算方法,它需要相应的动力学问题有一能反映短弧内达到一定精度的近似分析解．探测器进入月球引力作用范围后接近月球时可以处理成相对月球的受摄二体问题,而在地球附近,则可处理成相对地球的受摄二体问题,但在整个过渡段的力模型只能处理成一个受摄的限制性三体问题．而限制性三体问题无分析解,即使在月球引力作用范围外,对于大推力脉冲式的过渡方式,相对地球的变化椭圆轨道的偏心率很大(超过Laplace极限),在考虑月球引力摄动时亦无法构造摄动分析解．就此问题,考虑在地球非球形引力(只包含J2项)和月球引力共同作用下,构造了探测器飞抵月球过渡轨道段的时间幂级数解,在此基础上给出一种受摄二体问题意义下的初轨计算方法,经数值验证,定轨方法有效,可供地面测控系统参考．     

Pre-capture orbits of the moon

If the mass of the Earth was not considerably larger than at present, the pre-capture orbit of the Moon was in the range 0.9–1.1 A.U. Capture occurred within several 10⁸ years after formation of the Moon.     

A note on the limits of stability for the restricted problem of three bodies as applied to the Sun-Earth-Moon system

The Sun-Earth-Moon system is modeled by the restricted problem of three bodies, and the curves of zero velocity are used to define the limits of stability of the Moon's orbit about the Earth. By holding the relative distances fixed, and maintaining the circular velocities of the Earth and Moon while their masses are varied by a common factor (=m _E/m _E=m _M/m _M), it is found that the possibility of the Moon leaving Earth orbit and orbiting the Sun exists for the range of values 0.005<<0.4.     

On the deviation of the lunar center of mass to the East. Two possible mechanisms based on evolution of the orbit and rounding off the shape of the Moon

From the observations of the gravitational field and the figure of the Moon, it is known that its center of mass (briefly COM) does not coincide with the center of figure (COF), and the line “COF/COM” is not directed to the center of the Earth, but deviates from it to the South–East. Here we study the deviation of the lunar COM to the East from the mean direction to Earth.At first, we consider the optical libration of a satellite with synchronous rotation around the planet for an observer at a point on second (empty) orbit focus. It is found that the main axis of inertia of the satellite has asymmetric nonlinear oscillations with amplitude proportional to the square of the orbit eccentricity. Given this effect, a mechanism of tidal secular evolution of the Moon’s orbit is offered that explains up to \(20\%\) of the known displacement of the lunar COM to the East. It is concluded that from the alternative—evolution of the Moon’s orbit with a decrease or increase in eccentricity—only the scenario of evolution with a monotonous increase in orbit eccentricity agrees with the displacement of lunar COM to the East. The precise calculations available confirm that now the eccentricity of the lunar orbit is actually increasing and therefore in the past it was less than its modern value, \(e = 0.0549\).To fully explain the displacement of the Moon’s COM to the East was deduced a second mechanism, which is based on the reliable effect of tidal changes in the shape of the Moon. For this purpose the differential equation which governs the process of displacement of the Moon’s COM to the East with inevitable rounding off its form in the tidal increase process of the distance between the Earth and the Moon is derived. The second mechanism not only explains the Moon’s COM displacement to the East, but it also predicts that the elongation of the lunar figure in the early epoch was significant and could reach the value \(\varepsilon\approx0.31\). Applying the theory of tidal equilibrium figures, we can estimate how close to the Earth the Moon could have formed.