The determination of minimum-propellant-consumption trajectories represents a crucial issue for the purpose of planning robotic and human missions to the Moon in the near future. This work addresses the problem of identifying minimum-fuel orbit transfers from a specified low Earth orbit (LEO) to a low Moon orbit (LMO), under the assumption of employing high-thrust propulsion. The problem at hand is solved in the dynamical framework of the circular restricted three-body problem. First, the optimal two-dimensional LEO-to-LMO transfer is determined. Second, three-dimensional transfers are considered, in a dynamical model that includes the Cassini’s laws of lunar motion. The propellant consumption associated with three-dimensional transfers turns out to be relatively insensitive to the final orbit inclination and exceeds only marginally the value of the globally optimal two-dimensional orbit transfer.
Optimal Two- and Three-Dimensional Earth–Moon Orbit Transfers
Aerotec. Missili Spaz.
Aerotecnica Missili & Spazio ; 99 , 3 ; 195-202
2020-09-01
8 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Optimal, Low-Thrust, Earth-Moon Orbit Transfers
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1996
|Optimal transfers from Moon to halo orbit of the Earth-Moon system
Elsevier | 2022
|Optimal ballistically captured Earth–Moon transfers
Elsevier | 2012
|Optimal ballistically captured Earth–Moon transfers
Online Contents | 2012
|Indirect Optimization of Three-Dimensional Multiple-Impulse Moon-to-Earth Transfers
Online Contents | 2014
|