AbstractTo improve lunar landing performances in terms of mission costs, trajectory determination and visibility the use of a single probe located over an assistance orbit around the Moon has been taken into consideration. To this end, the properties of two quasi-circular orbits characterised by a stable behaviour of semi-major axis, eccentricity and inclination have been investigated. The analysis has demonstrated the possibility of using an assistance probe, located over one of these orbits, as a relay satellite between lander and Earth, even in the case of landings on the far side of the Moon. A comparison about the accuracy in retrieving the lander’s state with respect to the use of a probe located in the Lagrangian point L2 of the Earth-Moon system has also been carried out.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Stable orbits for lunar landing assistance


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Advances in Space Research ; 60 , 7 ; 1404-1412


    Publication date :

    2017-07-06


    Size :

    9 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English