Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dda....39.1516h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DDA meeting #39, #15.16
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Several international space agencies have announced plans for future lunar exploration missions, including orbiters, rovers, and the eventual build-up of a lunar outpost. Each of these missions will have certain communication and navigation requirements. Some missions will explore parts of the lunar environment that are not directly visible to the Earth, and a lunar relay element will be necessary to provide critical communication and navigation support. Previous research has shown the advantages of using halo orbits for a lunar relay. Halo orbit insertion costs are less than those for geostationary orbit, station-keeping costs are minimal, and the Earth is visible for 100% of the spacecraft's orbital period. An example constellation was designed to show the feasibility of a halo orbit constellation. The methodologies used to construct the example constellation can be tailored to design halo orbit constellations to meet the coverage needs of any lunar mission. Additionally, the halo orbits are selected such that low energy-transfers may be used to transfer spacecraft between halo orbits for very small maneuver costs. This follow-on research demonstrates the capability of the constellation to evolve and reconfigure through the use of low-energy transfers. Using low-energy transfers, multiple space agencies can utilize the same lunar relay constellation by reconfiguring the spacecraft to provide optimal coverage for different missions at different times. This research was funded by a grant from NASA's Exploration System Mission Directorate to the Colorado Space Grant Consortium and a Graduate Student Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
Hamera Kathryn E.
Mosher T.
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