Representing the Nominal Path for an Interior Libration Point Orbit in the Sun-Earth+Moon Elliptic Restricted Three-Body Problem

Abstract

Bounded nominal paths can be constructed in the vicinity of the interior equilibrium point (sometimes called a libration or Lagrange point) for the Sun-Earth+Moon Elliptic Restricted Three-Body Problem. Numerical integration is used to generate the periodic or quasi-periodic reference trajectories in this effort. The output of the routine will be numerical values for each of the six states (three position and three velocity) at each of the integration time steps. Linearization of both the equations of motion and of the equations representing the tracking solution assumes access to a continuous representation of the spacecraft's orbit. Follow-on research that investigates tracking errors or station-keeping costs may also need a continuous (and smooth) representation of the six states or, at least, may need access to an interpolation routine. Consequently, this work explores the generation of curves through the numerical data representing the libration point orbits in the Sun-Earth+Moon ER3BP; these orbits are computed in the vicinity of the interior libration point between the Sun and the Earth+Moon barycenter.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 07, 1991
Accession Number
ADA241396

Entities

People

  • Steven C. Gordon

Organizations

  • United States Air Force Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Astronautics
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Curve Fitting
  • Differential Equations
  • Equations
  • Equations Of Motion
  • Mathematical Filters
  • Numerical Analysis
  • Numerical Integration
  • Orbits
  • Solar Radiation
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Orbits
  • Three Dimensional
  • Trajectories
  • United States

Readers

  • Approximation Theory.
  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris