Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481

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Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cnsns

Research paper

Low-energy transfers to cislunar periodic orbits visiting

triangular libration points
Hanlun Lei, Bo Xu
School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper investigates the cislunar periodic orbits that pass through triangular libration
Received 14 August 2016 points of the EarthMoon system and studies the techniques on design low-energy trans-
Revised 20 May 2017
fer trajectories. In order to compute periodic orbits, families of impulsive transfers between
Accepted 30 May 2017
triangular libration points are taken to generate the initial guesses of periodic orbits, and
Available online 13 June 2017
multiple shooting techniques are applied to solving the problem. Then, varieties of peri-
Keywords: odic orbits in cislunar space are obtained, and stability analysis shows that the majority of
Periodic orbits them are unstable. Among these periodic orbits, an unstable periodic orbit in near 3:2 res-
Invariant manifolds onance with the Moon is taken as the nominal orbit of an assumed mission. As the stable
Low-energy transfers manifolds of the target orbit could approach the Moon, low-energy transfer trajectories can
Lunar gravity assist be designed by combining lunar gravity assist with the invariant manifold structure of the
target orbit. In practice, both the natural and perturbed invariant manifolds are considered
to obtain the low-energy transfers, which are further rened to the Sun-perturbed Earth
Moon system. Results indicate that (a) compared to the case of natural invariant manifolds,
the optimal transfers using perturbed invariant manifolds could reduce ight time at least
50 days, (b) compared to the cheapest direct transfer, the optimal low-energy transfer ob-
tained by combining lunar gravity assist and invariant manifolds could save on-board fuel
consumption more than 200 m/s, and (c) by taking advantage of the gravitational pertur-
bation of the Sun, the low-energy transfers could save more fuel consumption than the
corresponding ones obtained in the EarthMoon system.
2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Periodic orbits in the circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP) have been widely investigated [15], and the critical
role of periodic orbits in understanding the structure of a dynamical system has been recognized by poincar [6]. In the
CRTBP, there are varieties of basic families of simple periodic orbits, such as periodic orbits around libration points and
around the primaries. Based on these basic families, plenty of bifurcated families of periodic orbits have been found [2,4,5].
These periodic orbits hold rich characteristics in terms of space conguration and dynamics [7], and they have played crucial
roles in deep space exploration and attracted great interest of scientists and engineers.
The libration point orbits in the SunEarth and EarthMoon systems have been applied to many scientic missions. For
example, the periodic orbits around the SunEarth L1 point could provide suitable locations to observe the Sun and have
been adopted by varieties of missions, such as ISEE-3 (1978), SOHO (1995), and GENESIS (2001), and the ones around the

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: leihl@nju.edu.cn (H. Lei).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cnsns.2017.05.031
1007-5704/ 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481 467

SunEarth L2 point possess ideal thermal and dynamical environment and have been taken to place astronomy telescopes,
such as the missions MAP (2001), PLANK (2007) and GAIA (2012) [8]. For the periodic orbits around Li (i = 3, 4, 5 ) points of
the SunEarth system, their potential applications have been proposed by Hou et al. [9].
The periodic orbits around the equilibrium points of EarthMoon system are very useful in lunar explorations, such as
observing the opposite side of the Moon relative to the Earth [10,11], providing gateway for space transportation system
of the future [12], and placing communication or navigation satellites [13,14]. The rst mission that takes advantage of
the EarthMoon libration point orbits is the Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moons
Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) mission, which uses simultaneous measurements of particles and electric and magnetic
elds from two different locations to provide three-dimensional information on how energetic particle acceleration occurs
[15].
Periodic orbits around the primary bodies are becoming increasingly interesting and have been applied to practical mis-
sions due to their special conguration and long-term stability, especially for the periodic orbits in the EarthMoon system.
In 2008, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) vehicle [16] was launched into a high-altitude Earth orbit, and in the
extension stage, it was inserted into a stable lunar resonant orbit, which is a member of families of periodic orbits around
the Earth in the EarthMoon CRTBP [17]. In 2013, NASA selected the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for launch
in 2017 as an astrophysics explorer mission, which aims to search for planets transiting bright and nearby stars [18]. The
science orbit of the TESS mission is a long-term stable orbit in near 2:1 resonance with the Moon, which is also a periodic
orbit around the Earth in the EarthMoon CRTBP [19]. With the successful implementation of these missions, it is believed
that there will be increasing number of practical missions that may take advantage of this kind of complex periodic orbits
in the CRTBP to satisfy varieties of science and technology requirements.
For the study on complex periodic orbits in the CRTBP, Folta et al. [20] provided a reference catalog for trajectory de-
sign in the EarthMoon system to guide orbit design, including libration point orbits, resonant orbits and Moon-centered
orbits. In [21], the planar and three-dimensional resonant orbits in the EarthMoon system are analyzed and catalogued.
They identied the planar and three-dimensional homoclinic- and heteroclinic-type trajectories between the unstable res-
onant orbits in the EarthMoon system by taking advantage of their invariant manifold structures. In reference [22], Leiva
and Briozzo presented a methodology to compute the set of unstable periodic orbits in the region of interest, and then
developed a control algorithm allowing stabilizing the chosen unstable periodic orbit over long periods with very low fuel
consumption. Parker et al. [23] developed numerical methods for constructing orbit transfers, complex chains and periodic
orbits in the EarthMoon system using the invariant manifolds of unstable periodic orbits. The complex orbit chains and
periodic orbits obtained in reference [23] may have many applications in practical deep-space missions. In order to under-
stand the dynamics of the IBEX extended mission orbit and its apparent long-term stability, Dichmann et al. [24] examined
the dynamics of three types of near 3:1 resonant periodic orbits in the EarthMoon system, namely, planar mirror, reec-
tion and axial periodic orbits. The local stability of these resonant periodic orbits was analyzed by using Floquet analysis
and the nonlinear stability was examined by using Poincar maps. For the TESS mission orbit, Short et al. [25] applied the
ow-based analysis strategies to characterizing the motion modes and exploring the long-term behavior of the orbit. By
synchronizing the third bodys orbital period to integer fractions of the Moons sidereal period (3:1 or 2:1 resonance) and
phasing apogee to stay away from the Moon, a new class of long-term stable lunar resonance orbits (IBEX-like and TESS-like
orbits) have been obtained by McComas et al. [17]. These orbits provide cost-effective and nearly ideal locations for long-
term space weather observations because (a) a spacecraft on these orbits can remotely image the Earths magnetosphere
from outside its boundaries, and (b) a spacecraft on most part of these orbits could provide external observations, such as
solar wind, magnetosheath. To highlight the benet of employing resonant periodic orbits for transfers, Vaquero and Howell
[19] constructed planar and three-dimensional transfers from a low Earth orbit to the vicinities of the EarthMoon libration
points by taking advantage of the resonant arcs. Peng and Xu [26] utilized continuation methods together with the multiple-
shooting differential correction method to generate two groups of multi-revolution elliptic halo orbits around the collinear
libration points in the elliptic restricted three-body problem, and systematically investigated their stability evolution with
respect to the eccentricity and the mass ratio of the system.
For a practical mission, after the science orbit is determined, how to transfer a spacecraft from the low Earth orbit (LEO)
to the target orbit is of great signicance. As the positions of starting and arriving points of a feasible transfer trajectory are
constrained on two given orbits, the problem of transfer trajectory design can be considered as a two-point boundary value
problem (TPBVP). In the two-body dynamical system, the TPBVP is also called the well-known Lambert problem, which can
be easily solved by iterative method [27]. However, in the multi-body dynamical environment, the TPBVP becomes more
complicated because of the following facts: (a) no analytical solutions, (b) complex dynamics, and (c) multiple solutions.
Usually, in the multi-body dynamical system the direct transfers from the LEO to the target orbit are fuel-consuming. For
a long-term unmanned mission, it is essential to reduce the fuel cost in order to increase the scientic payload, thus low-
energy transfers have attracted great interest of scientists and engineers. In literature, multiple fuel-saving techniques are
incorporated into the natural dynamics of multi-body dynamical system in order to obtain fuel-saving transfer trajectories,
such as low-thrust propulsion, gravity assist technique [28], and the like. Capdevila et al. [29,30] systematically constructed a
network of transfer trajectories connecting regions around the Earth, Moon, and the triangular libration points in the Earth
Moon system. Koon et al. [31] approximated the SunEarthMoonspacecraft four-body system as two restricted three-body
problems, and they constructed low-energy transfer trajectories from the Earth to the Moon by matching the invariant
manifold structures of periodic orbits around collinear libration points in a predened section. The transfer trajectories they
468 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481

constructed are similar to the trajectory adopted by Hiten mission [32], which is designed based on the weak stability
boundary theory (WSB) developed by Belbruno [33]. After the work of Koon et al. [31], the invariant manifold structures of
Lagrange points have been widely used in the eld of low-energy transfers. For lunar exploration mission, Mingotti et al.
[34] combined the structures of invariant manifolds of two restricted three-body problems (SunEarth and EarthMoon
systems) with low-thrust propulsion to develop a systematic method, and the resulting low-energy, low-thrust transfers
require less propellant than the standard low-energy transfers. The attainable sets proposed in [35], playing similar role to
invariant manifolds in trajectory design, have been successfully applied to the design of lunar and interplanetary low-thrust,
low-energy transfers [3638]. In addition, the invariant manifold structures in the CRTBP have been successfully applied but
not limited to the following problems: transfers to distant retrograde orbits of EarthMoon system [39], transfers to the
L3 halo orbits of EarthMoon system [40,41], indirect transfers to the EarthMoon L1 point or halo orbit [42,43], transfers
between libration point orbits of SunEarth and EarthMoon systems [44,54], looking for the rescue trajectories that leave
the lunar surface [45], and the like.
From the viewpoint of practical application, the search, identication and computation of complex periodic orbits in the
CRTBP as well as the techniques on how to design optimal transfer trajectories in terms of fuel consumption and time of
ight are of great signicance. In this paper, we concentrate on the following two aspects: (a) computation of a set of cislu-
nar periodic orbits, and (b) design of low-energy transfer trajectories. Based on the families of impulsive transfers between
triangular libration points computed in [46], a set of periodic orbits that pass through triangular libration points of Earth
Moon system are dened and computed, and their linear stabilities are analyzed. Among all the periodic orbits computed,
an unstable periodic orbit in near 3:2 resonance with the Moon is taken as the science orbit of an assumed mission, and
trajectory design techniques by combining lunar gravity assist with invariant manifolds are developed. In this study, the lu-
nar gravity assist is studied in detail, and in the process of trajectory optimization, both the natural and perturbed invariant
manifolds are taken into account. Finally, the low-energy transfers obtained in the EarthMoon system are corrected to the
Sun-perturbed EarthMoon system.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In Section. 2, the basic dynamical model adopted in this paper is
briey introduced, and then the periodic orbits passing through triangular libration points are computed in Section. 3. In
Section. 4, discussions on how to design direct and low-energy transfer trajectories are performed. Finally, the conclusions
are drawn in Section. 5.

2. Basic dynamical model

In the circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP), the motions of an innitesimal particle, such as a spacecraft, are
governed by the gravitational eld generated by two massive primaries, where the primary body P1 with mass m1 and the
secondary body P2 with mass m2 move around their barycenter in circular orbits. Usually, the equations of motion are for-
mulated in a synodic coordinate system, where the origin is xed at the barycenter of primaries, the x-axis is directed from
the massive primary toward the secondary, the z-axis is parallel to the angular momentum vector of the primaries, and the
right-handed coordinate system determines the direction of the y-axis. For the convenience of computation, the following
normalized units are adopted: The total mass of the primaries, their distance, and the period of primaries divided by 2
are respectively taken as the units of mass, length and time. Under the system of dimensionless units, both the values of
gravitational constant and angular velocity are unitary, and the dimensionless mass of the secondary is = m2 /(m1 + m2 ).
In the barycentric synodic coordinate system, the dimensionless equations of motion are written as [7,12]

 
x 2y = , y + 2x = , (1)
x y
where  is the effective potential and holds

1  1
= (1 )r12 + r22 + + (2)
2 r1 r2
with r1 and r2 being the distances of the spacecraft from the primaries,

r12 = (x + )2 + y2 , r22 = (x 1 + )2 + y2 . (3)

The equations of motion described by Eq. (1) admit an integral of motion known as Jacobi constant (JC), given by

C ( X ) = 2 V 2 , (4)

where X = (x, y, x , y )T denotes the state of the third body in the barycentric synodic system, and V = x 2 + y 2 is the mag-
nitude of velocity.
The dynamical system represented by Eq. (1) is an autonomous system, and there are ve special solutions corresponding
to zero velocity and acceleration, named equilibrium points. Three of them are located on the line joining the primaries and
called collinear libration points (denoted as L1 , L2 and L3 ), and the remaining two constitutes equilateral triangles with the
primaries and are called triangular libration points (denoted as L4 and L5 ).
 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481 469

Fig. 1. Velocity matching at point L4 between impulsive transfers from L4 point to L5 point (blue points) and the ones from L5 point to L4 point (green
points). (a) Initial guesses. (b) Corrected solutions. (For interpretation of the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web
version of this article.)

Fig. 2. Distribution of parameters (Jacobi constant and period) of periodic orbits on the Period-JC plane. (a) Characteristic points of all periodic orbits. (b)
Characteristic points of stable (blue dots) and unstable (red dots) periodic orbits, and the special locations of periods (vertical cyan lines). (For interpreta-
tion of the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

3. Cislunar periodic orbits passing through triangular libration points

3.1. Computation of periodic orbits

According to our previous study [46], impulsive transfers between triangular libration points in the CRTBP are distributed
on the characteristic plane (PeriodJacobi constant) in the form of families. Starting with the families of impulsive transfers
from point L4 to L5 and from point L5 to L4 , we aim to compute a type of periodic orbits that pass through triangular libra-
tion points in conguration space. The key concept is to match the states of termination points of the impulsive transfers
from L4 to L5 and the ones from L5 to L4 .
The periodic orbit we consider consists of two arcs: one corresponding to the transfer arc from L4 to L5 (arc I), and the
other one corresponding to the transfer arc from L5 to L4 (arc II). In this work, we only concentrate on symmetric periodic
orbits, thus the symmetric families of impulsive transfers are adopted. Due to the symmetry, if the state of the initial point
of arc I coincides with the state of the endpoint of arc II, the state of the endpoint of arc I is the same as the state of the
initial point of arc II. As the transfer arcs adopted pass through triangular libration points in conguration space, their termi-
nation points have the same position coordinates as triangular libration points. Consequently, the state matching condition
of periodic orbit can be stated as velocity matching condition like this: Only when the velocity of the starting point of arc I
is the same as that of the endpoint of arc II, can a periodic orbit passing through triangular libration points be generated.
Fig. 1(a) presents the velocity components of impulsive transfers on the x y plane. For symmetric transfers from L4
to L5 , the velocities of the starting points are marked by blue dots, and for the ones from L5 to L4 , the velocities of the
endpoints are marked by green dots. The points satisfying velocity matching condition in a given tolerance are extracted and
marked by red dots, and their corresponding patched orbits are taken as initial guesses for computing the exact periodic
orbits.
In our computation, the problem of computing periodic orbits is transformed into a nonlinear programming problem
by multiple shooting methods, which can be solved by many numerical solvers, such as sequential quadratic programming
(SQP) method, active sets, and the like [47,48].
The velocities of the corrected periodic orbits at point L4 are reported in Fig. 1(b), where one red dot corresponds to one
exact periodic orbit, and the corresponding periodic orbits are distributed on the periodJC characteristic plane, as shown
in Fig. 2. According to Fig. 2, the following conclusions can be drawn: (a) In terms of energy, most periodic orbits gather
around JC = 1.0 and JC =2.9, and (b) the periods gather at some special locations of period, which are integer ratios with
respect to the period of primaries.
470 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481

Fig. 3. Unstable periodic orbits passing through triangular libration points of the EarthMoon system in conguration space.

3.2. Stability analysis

As the dynamical model CRTBP is autonomous, the linearized system about a reference periodic orbit is periodic. Floquet
theory states that it is sucient to examine the eigenvalues of Monodromy matrix of a periodic orbit to determine its
stability [49]. Monodromy matrix is dened as the state transition matrix (STM) over one period, which is obtained by
integrating the variational equations together with the equations of motion [12],
X = F (X ), 
= A , (5)
where A is the Jacobian matrix. For the planar case, the eigenvalues of Monodromy matrix come in reciprocal pairs as
follows [50]:
1 1
1 , , 2 , . (6)
1 2
In this study, we encounter three types of eigenvalues: (a) a real pair of eigenvalues (1, 1), (b) a complex conjugate pair of
eigenvalues (, ), where || = || = 1, and (c) a real pair of eigenvalues (, 1/) where > 1. The stability index is dened
as ki = i + 1/i (i = 1, 2 ). Because the dynamical model CRTBP is Hamiltonian and autonomous, the Monodromy matrix of
a periodic orbit must have a real pair of eigenvalues equal to one [49]. Therefore, for a planar periodic orbit in the CRTBP,
the pair of eigenvalues different from one determines its linear stability. In detail, the pair of eigenvalues(, 1/)where >
1 indicates that the periodic orbit is unstable, and the pair (, ) where || = || = 1 shows that the periodic orbit is stable.
According to the above discussion, the maximum one of k1 and k2 is taken as the stability parameter,
S = max {ki , i = 1, 2}. (7)
The stability criterion can be stated like this: If the stability parameter satises S > 2, the corresponding periodic orbit
is unstable, else the corresponding periodic orbit is stable. In Fig. 2(b), the characteristic points of stable periodic orbits are
marked by blue dots and the ones of unstable periodic orbits are marked by red dots.

3.3. Numerical examples

Fig. 3 shows eleven samples of unstable periodic orbits, denoted by Ai (i = 1, 2, ..., 11 ), and Fig. 4 shows six samples of
stable periodic orbits, denoted by Bi (i = 1, 2, ..., 6 ). The parameters of these sample periodic orbits are reported in Table 2,
including the velocity at point L4 , period, JC and stability index.
Among these unstable periodic orbits shown in Fig. 3, periodic orbit A6 is special because of the following facts: (a) It
has no close passage with either of the primaries; (b) it is in a near 3:2 resonance with respect to the Moon; and (c) it
 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481 471

Fig. 4. Stable periodic orbits passing through triangular libration points of the EarthMoon system in conguration space.

passes through the vicinities of libration points L3 , L4 and L5 , indicating that it can be applied to placing several navigation
satellites for realizing communication in cislunar space. In the following, A6 is adopted as the nominal orbit of an assumed
mission, and the techniques on how to compute low-energy transfer trajectories are to be discussed.
The stable periodic orbits shown in Fig. 4 have different motion types. Periodic orbit B1 revolves around the secondary
with a large scale in clockwise direction, and it belongs to the family of distant retrograde orbits (DRO) [1]. Periodic orbit
B2 has an eight-shaped conguration in space and revolves around the Earth. In practice, B2 -like periodic orbit have been
adopted as nominal orbit by the TESS mission [18]. Periodic orbit B3 revolves around the primary and passes through the
vicinities of libration points L4 , L5 and L3 in turn. Periodic orbit B4 moves around the collinear libration point L3 and is a
member of family of planar Lyapunov orbit around L3 point. Periodic orbit B5 moves around the secondary with multiple
revolutions and can be used to place a spacecraft to observe the secondary continuously. In fact, B5 belongs to the family of
period-doubling bifurcation orbits [51]. The periodic orbit B6 has a large scale and passes by the primary body several times
in a period.

4. Low-energy transfer trajectories

As the periodic orbit A6 is suitable to place navigation satellites for communication in cislunar space, we will take it
as the nominal orbit of an assumed mission and discuss how to construct low-energy transfers to it from low Earth orbit
(LEO). In practical computation, the altitude of LEO is taken as 200 km.

4.1. Invariant manifolds

The Monodromy matrix of periodic orbit A6 has two real pairs of eigenvalues:
1 = 71.0266,2 = 0.0141, 3 = 4 = 1. (8)
The eigenvector corresponding to 1 represents the local unstable direction and the one corresponding to 2 represents
the local stable direction. By using the state transition matrix, the unstable and stable eigenvectors of any point on the
periodic orbit specied by time-like parameter [0, 1] can be obtained and are denoted by Vu ( ) and Vs ( ). Perturbing
the states of the points on a periodic orbit in the directions of unstable and stable eigenvectors yields the initial states of
local unstable and stable invariant manifolds of the form [12],
V u ( ) V s ( )
X u ( ) = X ( ) , X s ( ) = X ( ) s (9)
|V ( )|
u |V ( )|
where X( ) is the state of the point on the periodic orbit, is the magnitude of perturbation, and the sign stands for
the positive or negative branch of invariant manifolds. In order to ensure the validity of linearization of local invariant
manifolds, the value of should be suciently small. Along the entire periodic orbit, the perturbation is normalized such
that stands for a constant position deviation. In practice, for the EarthMoon system considered, the perturbation is taken
as = 1.0 104 , which corresponds to a position magnitude of 38 km. Because the value of perturbation is so small, the
periodic orbit and its local invariant manifold can be considered to have almost the same Jacobi constant.
The trajectory in unstable manifolds can be generated by propagating the initial state of local unstable manifold
Xu ( )forward in time, and the trajectory in stable manifolds can be generated by propagating the initial state of local stable
manifold Xs ( )backward in time. The unstable invariant manifolds Wu contain the set of all the trajectories that the third
body could take to asymptotically depart from the periodic orbit along the direction of its local unstable eigenvector, and the
stable invariant manifold Ws contain the set of all trajectories that the third body could take to asymptotically arrive onto
the periodic orbit along the direction of its local stable eigenvector [12]. The unstable and stable manifolds are collectively
called invariant manifolds.
According to the above-mentioned discussions, invariant manifolds have the following features: (a) All trajectories in
invariant manifolds associated with a specied periodic orbit have almost the same Jacobi constant as the periodic orbit; (b)
472 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481

Fig. 5. Stable manifolds of periodic orbit A6 in the EarthMoon barycentric synodic coordinate system. (a) Positive branch. (b) Negative branch.

the trajectories in invariant manifolds have asymptotical behaviors in the vicinity of periodic orbit; and (c) following along
the trajectories in invariant manifolds, no additional maneuver is required for departing from or arriving onto the specied
periodic orbit. Based on these important properties, invariant manifolds have been widely applied but not limited to the
following topics: (a) computing lunar or interplanetary low energy transfer trajectories [3136]; (b) providing dynamical
mechanism on material transport in Solar system, e.g. homoclinic and heteroclinic connections between libration point orbits
[38,5254]; (c) providing dynamical mechanism on resonant transition of asteroids and comets [55], and (d) explaining the
trajectory jumping phenomenon of Trojan asteroids, such as Jupiters Trojan asteroid thersites and Earths Trojan asteroid
2010TK7 [56].
The positive and negative branches of stable invariant manifolds associated with periodic orbit A6 are presented in Fig. 5,
where the arrows indicate the motion directions of invariant manifolds. According to Fig. 5, one can observe that no any tra-
jectory in the stable manifolds could approach the Earth. Therefore, a spacecraft located on LEO cannot be directly inserted
into the transfer trajectories in stable manifolds. However, some trajectories in the negative branch of stable manifolds could
come close to the Moon, as shown in Fig. 5(b). Based on this fact, the lunar gravity assist and invariant manifolds can be
combined to design low-energy transfers. The concept of trajectory design can be stated like this: A spacecraft is rst trans-
ferred from the LEO to the vicinity of the Moon, an impulsive maneuver is performed at the perilune to insert the spacecraft
into the negative branch of stable manifolds, and then following the trajectory in stable manifolds, the spacecraft could ar-
rive onto the nominal orbit asymptotically. One can observe that the whole transfer trajectory consists of two segments:
The rst one corresponds to the EarthMoon transfer arc and the other one corresponds to the transfer arc in the stable
manifolds of the target orbit.
In the following, we will present some discussions on the lunar gravity assist, and then patch the EarthMoon transfer
arcs with the transfer arcs in the stable manifolds to obtain two-impulse and three-impulse transfer trajectories.

4.2. Analysis on lunar gravity assist

As stated above, the rst segment of the whole transfer trajectory is the EarthMoon transfer arc, which is used to
connect LEO with the patched perilune point. Without otherwise stated, we call the EarthMoon transfer arc as lunar gravity
assist (LGA) orbit.
In practical computation, the backward integration technique is adopted. The state of perilune is propagated backward
in time, and then the state of perigee can be obtained. According to our numerical experiments, we nd that an LGA orbit
with HE < RE + 10 0 0 0 km can be easily corrected to satisfy mission constraints, where HE is the distance of perigee from
the Earth and RE = 6378 km is the radius of the Earth. Therefore, we identify an LGA orbit satisfying HE < RE + 10 0 0 0 km
as a feasible LGA orbit. According to the motion type of perilune, LGA orbits are divided as prograde and retrograde LGA
orbits [57]. A retrograde LGA orbit states that the motion of its perilune point is clockwise, and a prograde LGA orbit states
that the motion of its perilune point is counterclockwise relative to the Moon.
The state of the perilune of an LGA orbit can be determined by the following parameters: (a) motion type of perilune,
(b) Jacobi constant JC, (c) the distance of the perilune from the Moon Hm , and (d) the phase angle of perilune in the Moon-
centered synodic coordinate system , measured in counterclockwise with respect to the positivex-axis. For a prograde LGA
orbit, the state of perilune can be given by
 
x = 1 + Hm cos , y = Hm sin , x = 2 JC sin , y = 2 JC cos , (10)
and for a retrograde LGA orbit, the state of perilune can be expressed as
 
x = 1 + Hm cos , y = Hm sin , x = 2 JC sin , y = 2 JC cos , (11)
where  is the effective potential and determined by
1  1 1
(Hm , ) = (1 + Hm cos )2 + (Hm sin )2 +  + + ( 1 ). (12)
2 1 + 2Hm cos + Hm Hm 2
 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481 473

Fig. 6. Distribution of perilune points of the LGA orbits on the Hm plane (left panel) and x y plane (right panel).

In order to avoid collision with the Moon, it requires that the distance of perilune from the Moon, Hm , should be larger
than the lunar radius RM = 1738 km. Propagating the state of LGAs perilune backward in time, one can judge whether the
corresponding LGA orbit is feasible or not according to the distance of perigee from the Earth. In Fig. 6, the perilune points
of feasible LGA orbits is distributed on the Hm and x y plane. The color index represents the adimensional distance of
perigee from the Earth. In each panel, the cases of prograde and retrograde perilune points are given. According to Fig. 6,
the following conclusions can be drawn: (a) There are no overlap regions between the perilune points of prograde and
retrograde LGA orbits; (b) in the Moon-centered synodic system, the perilune points of prograde LGA orbits are mainly
distributed in the third quadrant and the perilune points of retrograde orbits are mainly distributed in the fourth quadrant;
(c) with the same Jacobi constant, the distribution regions of prograde and retrograde LGA orbits are not symmetric, and the
perilune points of prograde LGA orbits are distributed in a larger parameter space; and (d) as the energy decreases (Jacobi
constant increases), the distribution region of perilune points of feasible LGA orbits becomes smaller.

4.3. Trajectory design using natural invariant manifolds

As stated above, the concept of trajectory design indicates that the whole transfer trajectory consists of the LGA orbit
and the transfer arc in the stable manifolds, and these two arcs are matched on the common perilune points. The matching
condition of perilune points states that the perilune points of the two arcs must have the same position coordinates and the
difference of velocities could be lled by an additional deep space maneuver. For the LGA orbit, the distribution of perilune
points (prograde or retrograde) has been presented for different Jacobi constants, as shown in Fig. 6. In this part, we mainly
compute the distribution of perilune points of the transfer arcs in the stable manifolds.
As shown in Fig. 5, some trajectories in the negative branch of stable manifolds could come close to the Moon. Therefore,
the negative branch of stable manifolds is adopted. The initial states of the negative branch of local stable manifolds are
474 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481

Fig. 7. Position matching between the perilune points of the feasible LGA orbits and the perilune points of stable manifolds of periodic orbit A6 . (a)
Prograde lunar yby. (b) Retrograde lunar yby.

Table 1
Parameters of the periodic orbits shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

NO. x 0 (adim) y 0 (adim) T (adim) JC S

A1 0.3385732992541 0.2620646853512 7.3699042611085 2.8166902217240 1.7073E + 02

A2 0.1954533909220 0.3235213985713 8.6471640546950 2.8571318766436 1.9453E + 02
A3 0.1708737429801 0.2188935039651 10.6370596673310 2.9228877978819 9.0077E + 03
A4 0.2141416416598 0.2356797084534 11.6388868606700 2.8985984323306 8.1596E + 02
A5 0.1812544595225 0.2586638788099 12.3641961133730 2.9002398187022 7.5443E + 02
A6 0.3139464633602 0.2121513769479 13.0090846193105 2.8564294114028 7.1041E + 01
A7 0.1631681032278 0.1922800552134 16.6925347296374 2.9364045504562 2.3671E + 04
A8 0.1965945229652 0.2034069258815 17.2512948871317 2.9199762160436 2.5300E + 03
A9 0.2766749022913 0.2155700451008 20.0931301208256 2.8769805540973 1.6815E + 04
A10 0.2436878484285 0.2447305773717 21.4273050624669 2.8807231770276 2.7549E + 03
A11 0.2152914542878 0.2081354217674 25.5187031044912 2.9103292359163 8.3310E + 03
B1 0.4030365648258 0.3981384398398 6.0477831353783 2.6790473101354 2.0 0 0 0E + 0 0
B2 0.2793808945523 0.7640633896647 6.2992720012193 2.3381534523333 2.0 0 0 0E + 0 0
B3 0.171740 0 014780 0.0687962660519 12.4140837434944 2.9657724456697 2.0 0 0 0E + 0 0
B4 0.0744577307493 1.1001690377049 12.5311860341945 1.7840841348073 2.0 0 0 0E + 0 0
B5 0.3590346460387 0.3781491349066 23.8038914434685 2.7280973547132 2.0 0 0 0E + 0 0
B6 0.1560679882083 0.9559350655505 25.0185390738217 2.0618309335087 2.0 0 0 0E + 0 0

propagated backward in time, and then the states and times of perilune points can be obtained. According to the motion
direction, the perilune points are divided into two groups: prograde and retrograde perilune points. In Fig. 7, the perilune
points of the transfer arcs in the stable manifolds are presented together with the perilune points of feasible LGA orbits
with C = 2.3. The color index stands for the ight time of the transfer arc in the stable manifolds, denoted by
T2 . Fig. 7(a)
corresponds to the prograde case and Fig. 7(b) corresponds to the retrograde case.
Table 1.
Observing the distribution of perilune points of the transfer arcs in the stable manifolds as shown in Fig. 7, one can
summarize the following conclusions: (a) There are some special structures, such as discontinuity lines, closed curves; (b)
the distribution of prograde perilune points has similar structures to that of retrograde perilune points; (c) the ight time
of the transfer arc in the stable manifolds is greater than 100 days ( 24 units of adimensional time); and (d) for both
the prograde and retrograde cases, numerous perilune points satisfying position matching condition (located in the shaded
region) can be found.
The Jacobi constant of the LGA arc is xed as C1 = 2.3, and the JC of the transfer arcs in the stable manifolds of periodic
orbit A6 is C2 2.8564. Therefore, on the patched perilune point, an impulsive maneuver is required to ll the gap of their
JCs.
yp
For the patched perilune, its phase angle can be expresses as = arctan x p 1+ , where (xp , yp ) is its position. The velocity
components of the perilune points for the LGA arc and the transfer arc in the stable manifolds can be written as
 
x p = 2 Ci cos , y p = 2 Ci sin , i = 1, 2, (13)

where i = 1 corresponds to the LGA arc and i = 2 corresponds to the transfer arc in the stable manifolds, and the upper
and lower signs correspond to the prograde and retrograde cases, respectively. Through a simple derivation, the deep space
maneuver,
v2 , performed on the patched perilune point can be determined by
 

v 2 = 2 C1 2 C2 (14)

for both the prograde and retrograde cases. Because the patched perilune point is located in the close vicinity of the Moon,
its position coordinates can be approximated as x p xm = 1 and yp 0, and its distance from the Earth can be approx-
 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481 475

Fig. 8. Two-impulsive low-energy transfer trajectories by combining lunar gravity assist with natural invariant manifolds of periodic orbit A6 . (a) Prograde
lunar yby. (b) Retrograde lunar yby.

Table 2
Parameters of transfer trajectories.

Trajectory
T1 (day)
T2 (day)
v1 (m/s)
v2 (m/s)
v3 (m/s) R2 (km)

NO.1 4.8821 105.9909 3127.8525 209.2229 10,979.6588

NO.2 3.3215 109.6804 3143.5395 164.7366 1773.7471
NO.3 4.8795 15.9446 3128.1063 187.8612 13.7053 9928.7488
NO.4 4.6962 36.0970 3127.5944 152.1329 30.4632 10,616.6473
NO.5 3.8661 65.0466 3135.8343 146.4152 28.6925 1867.8273
NO.6 3.2875 54.5315 3144.2739 165.9156 6.8313 1759.9498
NO. 3-1 4.7822 15.9530 3128.0010 175.5031 8.5587 10,371.1743
NO. 4-1 4.1501 29.9584 3134.7479 51.9196 84.2037 4023.9092
A 5.6136 3134.1463 489.9874
B 5.5538 3133.8323 432.0581
C 8.1106 3001.1906 382.9912

imated as R1 1. Therefore, the effective potential  can be approximated as

1 1 3
 (1 )2 + 1 + + (1 )= (1 )+ . (15)
2 R2 2 2 R2
Substituting the expression of  into Eq. (14) yields the expression of deep space maneuver
v2 ,
 
2 2

v 2 = +3(1 ) C1 +3(1 ) C2 . (16)
R2 R2
As the Jacobi constants of the LGA arc and the transfer arc in the stable manifolds are xed (C1 = 2.3 and C2 = 2.8564),
Eq. (16) indicates that the deep space maneuver performed on the patched perilune point is only related to its distance
from the Moon, R2 . Differentiating Eq. (16) with respect toR2 , one can obtain the following expression:

d
v 2 1 1
= 2   . (17)
d R2 R2 2 2
R2
+3(1 ) C1 R2
+3 (1 ) C2

Since C1 < C2 , it is easy to get d

v2 /dR2 > 0, which shows that the deep space maneuver
v2 is a monotonously
increasing function with respect to the distance from the Moon,R2 . Therefore, in the practical trajectory design, the patched
perilune point with smaller distance from the Moon is expected.
By integrating the equations of motion from the patched perilune points backward and forward in time, the LGA arc
and the transfer arc in the stable manifolds can be generated. Following the EarthMoon transfer arc, the spacecraft can
transfer from the LEO to the patched perilune point, and following the transfer arc in the stable manifolds, the spacecraft
could approach the target orbit asymptotically. Therefore, one patched perilune point corresponds to one patched transfer
trajectory. In the following computation, these patched transfer trajectories corresponding to the patched perilune points
with smaller distance from the Moon will be taken as initial guesses for computing optimal low-energy transfer trajectories.
The nonlinear programming problems for computing low-energy transfers are established by means of multiple shooting
technique and solved by numerical solvers [47,48]. The resulting optimized transfer trajectories are reported in Fig. 8, in
which the positions of primaries, equilibrium points and the directions of motion are all shown. The data of transfer tra-
jectories can be seen in Table 2, including the ight time of the two transfer arcs, the velocity impulses performed on the
perigee and perilune, and the distance of perilune from the Moon. From Table 2, one can summarize the following conclu-
sions: (a) For both the prograde and retrograde cases, it takes 35 days to transfer from LEO to the vicinity of the Moon,
and takes more than 100 days to transfer from the lunar vicinity to the target orbit; (b) the transfer trajectory with prograde
476 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481

Fig. 9. Position matching between perilune points of feasible LGA orbits (prograde yby) and the perilune points of the perturbed stable manifolds of
periodic orbit A6 . (a) Positively perturbed manifolds. (b) Negatively perturbed manifolds.

Fig. 10. Position matching between perilune points of feasible LGA orbits (retrograde yby) and the perilune points of the perturbed stable manifolds of
periodic orbit A6 . (a) Positively perturbed manifolds. (b) Negatively perturbed manifolds.

lunar yby has a larger distance of perilune from the Moon than the one with retrograde lunar yby; and (c) compared to
the transfer trajectory with retrograde lunar yby, the one corresponding to prograde lunar yby requires larger deep space
maneuver.
Since the transfer trajectory designed by using natural stable manifolds takes a long ight time, their applications in
practical missions are limited. To reduce the time of ight, in the following we will replace the natural invariant manifolds
by perturbed invariant manifolds.

4.4. Trajectory design by using perturbed invariant manifolds

The perturbed invariant manifolds, also called pseudo invariant manifolds, are introduced to reduce the ight time in
the vicinity of the target periodic orbit. The perturbed invariant manifolds are dened as follows: (a) The trajectories in
the perturbed invariant manifolds have position intersection with the target orbit; and (b) the velocity perturbations to
construct the trajectories are given in the direction of the velocity components of the target orbits eigenvector [40,41].
According to the denition, following the trajectory in the perturbed invariant manifolds, an insertion maneuver is required
to insert or depart from the nominal periodic orbit. One point that should be noticed is that, in order to take advantage of
the convergent or divergent behavior of manifolds, the magnitude of velocity perturbation should be small. In this work, the
velocity perturbation is taken as
v = 20 m/s, and added in the direction of the nominal orbits eigenvector. The initial
states of perturbed invariant manifolds can be written as

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 V ( )
u
0 0 0 V s ( )
0
X p ( ) = X ( )+
u
|V u ( )| , Xp ( ) = X ( )+0
s
|V s ( )| (18)
0 0
v 0 0
v 0
0 0 0
v 0 0 0
v
where X( ), Vu ( ) and Vs ( ) have the same denitions as the ones in Eq. (9).
By propagating the initial states represented by Eq. (18) backward during a certain time, the states and times of the
perilune points of the transfer arcs in the perturbed stable manifolds can be obtained. According to the motion type of
perilune point with respect to the Moon, the perilune points of the trajectories in the perturbed stable manifolds are also
divided into two groups: prograde and retrograde perilune points. The distributions of perilune points are shown in Figs. 9
for prograde lunar ybys and 10 for retrograde lunar ybys together with the distribution of the perilune points of feasible
LGA orbits with C = 2.3. The color index stands for the time of ight of the transfer arc in the perturbed stable manifolds.
From Figs. 9 and 10, the following discussions can be made: (a) The distributions of the prograde and retrograde perilune
points of the transfer arcs in the positive branch of perturbed stable manifolds have similar structures, and the same phe-
nomenon can be found for the negative branch; (b) compared with the ones in natural stable manifolds, the ight times of
 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481 477

Fig. 11. Three-impulse optimal transfer trajectories by combining lunar gravity assist (prograde yby) with perturbed stable manifolds of periodic orbit A6 .
(a) Positively perturbed manifolds. (b) Negatively perturbed manifolds.

Fig. 12. Three-impulse optimal transfer trajectories by combining lunar gravity assist (retrograde yby) with perturbed stable manifolds of periodic orbit
A6 . (a) Positively perturbed manifold. (b) Negatively perturbed manifold.

the trajectories in the perturbed stable manifolds are greatly reduced; (c) for both positive and negative perturbed stable
manifolds, numerous perilune points satisfying position matching condition (located in the shaded regions) can be found;
and (d) comparing Fig. 9 with Fig. 10, one can nd that the best patched perilune points for prograde case have larger
distance from the Moon than the ones for retrograde case.
Similar to the case of natural invariant manifolds, the nonlinear programming problem for computing low-energy trans-
fers can be formulated by means of multiple shooting techniques and solved by numerical solvers [47,48]. The resulting
optimized transfers are reported in Fig. 11 corresponding to the prograde case and Fig. 12 corresponding to the retrograde
case. The parameters of these transfers are reported in Table 2.
According to Table 2, the following conclusions can be obtained: (a) Compared to the transfer trajectories using natu-
ral invariant manifolds, the ight times of the optimal transfers using perturbed invariant manifolds are reduced greatly;
(b) compared to the transfers with retrograde lunar yby, the optimal transfers with prograde lunar yby have larger dis-
tance of perilune points from the Moon; (c) the optimal transfers with retrograde lunar yby require smaller deep space
maneuver than the ones with prograde lunar yby; (d) among the optimal transfers, the optimal transfer denoted by NO. 3
(corresponding to the positively perturbed stable manifolds and prograde lunar yby) has the shortest ight time ( 21 day),
but has the largest deep space maneuver ( 201 m/s); and (e) the optimal transfer denoted by NO. 6 (corresponding to neg-
atively perturbed stable manifolds and retrograde lunar yby) has the smallest deep space maneuver ( 172 m/s), and its
ight time is moderate ( 58 day).

4.5. Comparison with direct transfers

In order to compare with the optimal transfers by using natural or perturbed invariant manifolds, the direct transfers
from LEO to the periodic orbit A6 are computed. In the process of computing direct transfers, the Hohmann transfers are
taken as initial guesses, and then the transfers are corrected by means of shooting method and optimized by the gradient-
based numerical method. For every insertion point on the nominal orbit determined by the time-like parameter , an op-
timal direct transfer can be computed. The relationship between the insertion maneuver,
v2 , and parameter of injection
point, , is reported in Fig. 13(a). From Fig. 13(a), three local optimal transfers can be found and marked by letters A, B and
C. Their corresponding transfer trajectories are presented in Fig. 13(b), and the trajectory parameters are reported in Table 2.
According to Table 2, the following discussions can be made: (a) Direct transfer trajectories have relatively short ight
time, about 510 days; (b) among these three direct transfers denoted by A, B and C, transfer trajectory corresponding
to C has the smallest deep space maneuver (383 m/s), but has the largest ight time (8 days); (c) among the transfer
trajectories by using invariant manifolds, the one corresponding to NO. 6 is the cheapest, and its deep space maneuver
478 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481

Fig. 13. Direct transfers from LEO to the periodic orbit A6 . (a) Relationship between deep space maneuver and the time-like parameter of injection point
on the periodic orbit A6 . (b) Three sample transfers.

is about 172 m/s and ight time is about 58 days; and (d) compared to the cheapest direct transfer (denoted by C), the
optimal low-energy transfer by using invariant manifolds (denoted by NO. 6) could save more than 200 m/s on-board fuel
consumption.

4.6. Trajectory renement in the restricted four-body system

To approximate the motions of spacecraft in cislunar space more accurately, the restricted four-body problem that con-
siders the gravitational attraction of the Sun in the EarthMoon system is adopted. For convenience, the motions of space-
craft are illustrated in the EarthMoon barycentric synodic system, and in this coordinate system this restricted four-body
problem (RFBP) is also called Sun-perturbed EarthMoon system. This dynamical model is formulated under the following
assumptions: (a) The movements of the Sun, Earth and Moon are all taken place in the same plane; (b) the Moon and Earth
move around their barycenter in circular orbits; and (c) the Sun and EarthMoon barycenter move around their barycenter
in circular orbits. Based on these assumptions, the equations of motion can be written as [12]
4 4
x = 2y + , y = 2x + , = S , (19)
x y S
where S is the angular velocity of the Sun in the EarthMoon synodic system, and 4 is the potential of restricted four-
body problem, given by
1 1

4 = 3 + S (x cos S + y sin S ) , (20)
rS D2
where 3 is the pseudo potential of the CRTBP, dened by Eq. (2), S is the dimensionless mass of the Sun, D is the
distance between the Sun and the barycenter of the Earth and Moon, and S is the phase angle of the Sun, measured
in counterclockwise relative to the positive x-axis of the EarthMoon synodic system. The position of the Sun is (Dcos S ,
Dsin S ), and in consequence, the distance of spacecraft from the Sun is calculated by

rS2 = (x D cos S ) + (y D sin S ) .

2 2
(21)
It is worth noting that as the motions of the three primaries are assumed as circular orbits, the dynamical model dened
by Eq. (19) is not coherent. However, this dynamical model could catch the basic dynamics of the real restricted four-
body problem. In this section, we will take the results obtained in the last section as initial guesses to compute transfer
trajectories in the Sun-perturbed EarthMoon system.
In this section, we aim to rene the results obtained in the EarthMoon CRTBP to the ones in the RFBP. In practical
computation, the problem on computing optimal transfers in the RFBP is converted into a nonlinear optimization prob-
lem by means of multiple shooting method, and then by taking the results obtained in the CRTBP as initial guesses, the
corresponding optimization problems can be solved by many numerical solvers [47,48].
Because of the high nonlinearity of the problem, it requires that the initial guesses provided are accurate enough, and in
practical tests, it is usual to meet with failure in solving the optimization problem. In order to ensure robust convergence,
parameter is introduced to control the dynamical system of the form,
1 1

4 = 3 + S (x cos S + y sin S ) , (22)
rS D2
where = 0 represents the dynamical model CRTBP, = 1 stands for the dynamical model RFBP, and other value of cor-
responds to the intermediate model between the CRTBP and RFBP. Therefore, the dynamical model can be specied by the
value of .
As shown in Eq. (19), the dynamical system RFBP is non-autonomous, thus the optimal transfer trajectories are closely
related to the initial phase angle of the Sun, which, in fact, corresponds to the launch window. For a certain launch window,
 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481 479

Fig. 14. Relationship between the deep space maneuvers and the initial phase angle of the Sun. (a) Taking trajectory NO. 3 as initial guess. (b) Taking
trajectory NO. 4 as initial guess.

Fig. 15. Low-energy transfer trajectories in the Sun-perturbed EarthMoon system. (a) Trajectory NO. 3-1. (b) Trajectory NO. 4-1.

the optimization problem can be solved by gradually continuing the value of from 0 to 1.0, and in this process, the optimal
transfer obtained in the dynamical model specied by smaller value of is taken as the initial guess for solving the optimal
solution in the dynamical system corresponding to larger value of . Finally, when = 1, the optimal low-energy transfers
in the RFBP can be computed.
By taking the trajectories NO. 3 and NO. 4 shown in Fig. 11 as initial guesses, the optimal transfers in the RFBP are
obtained by means of the above-mentioned numerical techniques. The initial phase angle of the Sun is taken in the range
of [0, 2 ]. The relationship between the deep space maneuver and the initial phase angle of the Sun is given in Fig. 14,
in which the solutions with minimum deep space maneuver are marked as No. 3-1 and No. 4-1. The resulting low-energy
transfer trajectories corresponding to NO. 3-1 and NO. 4-1 are shown in Fig. 15, and their parameters are reported in Table 2.
Fig. 15 and Table 2 could lead to the following conclusions: (a) The launch windows are exible by slightly increasing the
fuel consumption; and (b) by taking advantage of the perturbation of the gravitational attraction of the Sun, the optimal
transfers could save more fuel consumption than the ones obtained in the EarthMoon CRTBP (save 16 m/s for NO. 3 and
46 m/s for NO. 4). The computations about taking other transfers obtained in the CRTBP as initial guesses can be performed
in the similar manner, and they will not be discussed here due to the limitation of length.

5. Conclusions

In this paper, the set of periodic orbits passing through triangular libration points in cislunar space are computed, and
taking an unstable periodic orbit in near 3:2 resonance with the Moon as the science orbit of an assumed mission, we
investigate the techniques on how to design transfer trajectories.
Based on the families of impulsive transfers between triangular libration points, the periodic orbits that pass through
triangular libration points are computed by means of multiple shooting techniques, and their linear stabilities are analyzed.
The periodic orbits computed have special conguration with respect to the primaries in space and have potential applica-
tions in practical missions.
As the nominal orbit selected is unstable, there are invariant manifolds emanating from it. Simulation results show some
trajectories in the invariant manifolds can approach the vicinities of the Moon, therefore it is possible to design transfer
trajectories by combining lunar gravity assist with the invariant manifold structure. The transfer trajectories considered in
this paper consist of two segments: One corresponds to the EarthMoon transfer arc and the other one corresponds to the
transfer arc in the stable manifolds. The multiple shooting method is taken to establish the nonlinear programming prob-
lem for computing optimal low-energy transfer trajectories. In our computation, both the natural and perturbed invariant
manifolds are considered. Finally, the low-energy transfers are rened to the Sun-perturbed EarthMoon system. Simula-
480 H. Lei, B. Xu / Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat 54 (2018) 466481

tion results show that (a) compared with the transfers using natural invariant manifolds, the times of ight required by
the transfer trajectories using perturbed invariant manifolds are reduced greatly; (b) compared with the case of prograde
lunar yby, the patched perilune points for the case of retrograde lunar yby have smaller distance from the Moon, and
the resulting transfer trajectories are cheaper in terms of deep space maneuver; (c) compared with the cheapest direct
transfer (383 m/s), the cheapest low-energy transfer trajectory by combining lunar gravity assist with invariant manifolds
(172 m/s) could save more than 200 m/s on-board fuel consumption, but with the cost of ight time; and (d) by taking
advantage of the gravitational attraction of the Sun, the resulting low-energy transfers could save more fuel consumption
than the corresponding ones obtained in the EarthMoon system.

Acknowledgments

This work was carried out with nancial support of the National Natural Science Foundation (No. 11603011), the
Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu province (No. BK20160612), the National Basic Research Program 973 of China (No.
2013CB834103 and 2015CB857100), the Satellite Communication and Navigation Collaborative Innovation Center (No. SatCN-
201409) and National Defense Scientic Research Fund (No. 2016110C019).

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