ATTAINABLE SETS IN SPACE MISSION DESIGN: A METHOD TO DEFINE LOW-THRUST, INVARIANT MANIFOLD TRAJECTORIES

摘要

A method to incorporate low-thrust propulsion into the invariant manifolds technique for space trajectory design is presented in this paper. Low-thrust propulsion is introduced by means of attainable sets that are used in conjunction with invariant manifolds to define first guess solutions in the restricted-three body problem. They are optimized in the restricted four-body problem where an optimal control problem is formalized. Several missions are investigated in the Earth-Moon system: transfers to libration point orbits and to periodic orbits around the Moon. Attainable sets allow the immediate design of efficient complex space trajectories.