Dynamics and potential applications of a lunar space tethered system

Abstract

Nonlinear dynamics and potential applications of a lunar space tether system, with one end connected to the Moon's surface and the other with a large floating counterweight, are investigated in the paper. Dynamical equations of the system with a massless viscoelastic tether considering the planar libration and elastic elongation within the elliptical Earth-Moon restricted three-body (EEMRTB) system are established. The equilibria and stability of the dynamical system are explored for the system at L1 side without considering small perturbations caused by eccentricity to facilitate the rough selection of the length and elastic coefficient of the tether. The potential applications including harvesting the Rayleigh Damping Dissipation power and accessible regions within the Earth-Moon system will be studied based on the dynamic analysis of the full nonlinear dynamics. The allowed parameter regions (the tether system will neither collide the Moon/Earth nor rotate about the Moon) are identified exactly using numerical analysis, moreover, the performance of the potential applications and other related references for building a tether system are explored at L1 and L2 numerically. It is suggested that one should design a space tether based energy harvester at L1 side, release an unpowered spacecraft with high mechanical energy at L2 side respectively. Some conclusions on selecting the parameters and evaluating the performance of the space tether based platform are obtained based on numerical calculations. The research will be useful for the Moon infrastructure constructions.