Abstract
Distant Retrograde Orbits in the Earth–Moon system are gaining in popularity as stable “parking” orbits for various conceptual missions. To investigate the stability of potential Distant Retrograde Orbits, simulations were executed, with propagation running over a thirty-year period. Initial conditions for the vehicle state were limited such that the position and velocity vectors were in the Earth–Moon orbital plane, with the velocity oriented such that it would produce retrograde motion about Moon. The resulting trajectories were investigated for stability in an environment that included the eccentric motion of Moon, non-spherical gravity of Earth and Moon, gravitational perturbations from Sun, Jupiter, and Venus, and the effects of radiation pressure. The results indicate that stability may be enhanced at certain resonant states within the Earth–Moon system.
Highlights
The term Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) was introduced by O’Campo and Rosborough [1]to describe a set of trajectories that appeared to orbit the Earth–Moon system in a retrograde sense when compared with the motion of the Earth/Moon around the solar-system barycenter
This paper focuses on the identification of initial conditions that give rise to DRO trajectories that are stable over the lifetime of a typical program; thirty years was selected as a conservative term for most projects
While Hénon [2] identified DROs as being generally stable, something causes a loss of long-term stability for DROs in the Earth–Moon system
Summary
The term Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) was introduced by O’Campo and Rosborough [1]. The non-Keplerian scenarios that can lead to elaborate resonant orbits are presented This leads naturally into a discussion of initial conditions that lead to stable DROs. This work is further developed by adding radiation pressure as another perturbing force, and observing the consequential destabilizing effect. Because the DROs are operating at large distance from the secondary body, they are less influenced by the non-uniformity of the gravitational field, which enhances their stability In this sense, the term “Distant” refers to orbits at distances beyond which orbits would normally be considered viable. We will focus on the Earth–Moon system, with Earth being the primary body, Moon being the secondary body, with a vehicle of arbitrary mass placed in retrograde orbit around. These perturbations are typically out of the Earth–Moon plane; while they are not expected to have significant effect, the computations are inexpensive so are included for completeness
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