The present concept for robotic lunar missions combines Pegasus-launched small vehicles with the weak-stability boundary (WSB) or 'ballistic capture' trajectory suggested by Belbruno (1991). The existence of the earth's WSB, as a result of a distance from the sun of about 1.5 million km, yields a transfer that is analogous to the parabolic case but in which the earth-to-moon transit time is only 3-5 months. The WSB technique has been demonstrated by the Japanase Hiten spacecraft, which reached the lunar vicinity after 5 months in transit.


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    Title :

    Robotic lunar exploration using the Pegasus winged rocket and ballistic lunar capture - An update


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    1992-03-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




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