Novel spaceways for reaching the Moon: an assessment for exploration

The renewed interest of the major space agencies for the exploration of the Moon has made a review of the present/near future scenario and the related accessible mission profiles desirable. In particular the application of the dynamical systems approach to spaceflight dynamics could bring a significant contribution. A simple method for evaluating the efficiency of these novel spaceways for reaching the Moon if compared to more traditional mission profiles is presented and some general considerations on their utilization for automatic precursor missions as well as for the setting up and the maintenance of a Moon Base are discussed.