Low energy transfer to the Moon
Koon, WS;
Lo, MW;
Marsden, JE;
Ross, SD;
CELESTIAL MECHANICS AND DYNAMICAL ASTRONOMY
81(1-2), 63-73, SEP 2001
Abstract:
In 1991, the Japanese Hiten mission used a low energy transfer with a ballistic capture at the Moon which required
less Delta-V than a standard Hohmann transfer. In this paper, we apply the dynamical systems techniques developed in
our earlier work to reproduce systematically a Hiten-like mission. We approximate the Sun-Earth-Moon-spacecraft
4-body system as two 3-body systems. Using the invariant manifold structures of the Lagrange points of the 3-body
systems, we are able to construct low energy transfer trajectories from the Earth which execute ballistic capture at the
Moon. The techniques used in the design and construction of this trajectory may be applied in many situations.
Keywords: earth-moon transfer, invariant manifolds, three-body problem, space mission design
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