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Dynamical Structures Nearby NRHOs with Applications to Transfer Design in Cislunar Space

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Abstract

The development of a methodology to move through cislunar space along fundamental dynamical pathways is relevant to NASA’s goals for a cislunar transportation network. To enable an informed design approach for transfer trajectories departing from or arriving at a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO), higher-period orbits that bifurcate from the NRHO region of the \(L_2\) halo orbit family are combined with other known structures, such as other Lagrange point and resonant orbits, in the Earth-Moon neighborhood. As a result of this design strategy, novel impulsive transfer options between NRHOs and distant retrograde orbits that possess predictable geometries are constructed. A strategy to enforce eclipse-free transfers using a path constraint is developed and verified in a higher-fidelity ephemeris model.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics for the facilities and support, including access to the Rune and Barbara Eliasen Visualization Laboratory. The authors are grateful to the reviewers for providing thorough and insightful feedback on this paper; it has certainly been improved as a result.

Funding

This research is supported by a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Technology Research Fellowship, NASA Grant 80NSSC18K1153 as well as NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement 80NSSC18M0122, and NASA contract number NNJ13HA01C.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Purdue University, 701 W. Stadium Avenue, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Emily M. Zimovan-Spreen

  2. Hsu Lo Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University, 701 W. Stadium Avenue, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Kathleen C. Howell

  3. Principal Systems Engineer, a.i. solutions, Inc., 2224 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX, USA

    Diane C. Davis

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  1. Emily M. Zimovan-Spreen
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  2. Kathleen C. Howell
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  3. Diane C. Davis
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Correspondence to Emily M. Zimovan-Spreen.

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Zimovan-Spreen, E.M., Howell, K.C. & Davis, D.C. Dynamical Structures Nearby NRHOs with Applications to Transfer Design in Cislunar Space. J Astronaut Sci 69, 718–744 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40295-022-00320-4

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