Low energy transfers

Low energy transfers

Low energy transfers, or low energy trajectories, are routes in space which allow spacecraft to change orbits using very little fuel. These routes work in other systems, such as traveling between the satellites of Jupiter. The drawback of such trajectories is that they take longer.

Low energy transfers to the Moon were first demonstrated in 1991 by the Japanese spacecraft "Hiten". This was a result of a mission rescue by Edward Belbruno and James Miller. The transfer used by "Hiten" is a revolutionary new type of low energy transfer to the Moon derived from Weak Stability Boundary Theory. See [http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/7687.html "Capture Dynamics and Chaotic Motions in Celestial Mechanics"] . Unlike the standard three day transfer to the Moon this low energy route does not require large rocket engines to slow down to be captured into lunar orbit. It also takes three months instead of three days.

Low energy transfers follow special pathways in space, sometimes referred to as the Interplanetary Transport Network. Other missions that have used low energy transfers are" SMART-1", of the European Space Agency, and "Genesis", of NASA.

Further reading

* Orbital mechanics
* Interplanetary Transport Network
* Gravitational slingshot

External links

* [http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/7687.html Capture Dynamics and Chaotic Motions in Celestial Mechanics: With the Construction of Low Energy Transfers] Princeton University Press. March 2004
* [http://www.siam.org/siamnews/07-04/mechanics.pdf Celestial Mechanics Theory Meets the Nitty-Gritty of Trajectory Design]
* [http://www.annalsnyas.org/cgi/content/abstract/1065/1/55 Earth-to-Moon Low Energy Transfers Targeting L1 Hyperbolic Transit Orbits]
* [http://www.annalsnyas.org/cgi/content/abstract/1065/1/1 Low Energy Trajectories and Chaos: Applications to Astrodynamics and Dynamical Astronomy]
* [http://www.discover.com/issues/sep-94/features/gravitysrim419/ Gravities Rim: Riding Chaos to the Moon]
* [http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050416/bob9.asp Navigating Celestial Currents]


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