Novel Solar-Sail Mission Concept for High-Latitude Earth and Lunar Observation
Solar-sail periodic orbits in the Earth–moon circular restricted three-body problem are proposed for continuous observation of the polar regions of the Earth and the moon. The existence of families of solar-sail periodic orbits in the Earth–moon system has previously been demonstrated by the authors...
| Published in: | Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b924332a-3f32-40c8-9cf1-653be143dce2 https://doi.org/10.2514/1.G002919 |
| Summary: | Solar-sail periodic orbits in the Earth–moon circular restricted three-body problem are proposed for continuous observation of the polar regions of the Earth and the moon. The existence of families of solar-sail periodic orbits in the Earth–moon system has previously been demonstrated by the authors and is expanded by introducing additional orbit families. Orbits for near-term solar-sail technology originate by maintaining the solar sail at a constant attitude with respect to the sun such that mission operations are greatly simplified. The results of this investigation include a constellation of two solar-sail L 2 L2 -vertical Lyapunov orbits that achieves continuous observation of both the lunar South Pole and the center of the Aitken Basin at a minimum elevation of 15 deg. At Earth, a set of two, clover-shaped orbits can provide continuous coverage of one of the Earth’s poles at a minimum elevation of 20 deg. Results generated in the Earth–moon circular restricted three-body model are easily transitioned to one that includes eccentricity effects and demonstrates that the orbits are feasible in realistic regimes. Astrodynamics & Space Missions |
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