Minimum Time of Flight, Min TOF

Author: Tianjiang Shuo

Website: https://cislunarspace.cn

Definition

The shortest flight time from the minimum parking orbit to the lunar surface for a given Jacobi energy. Shows stepped increase with energy: ~3 days at C=2.08 (direct-transfer-like), jumps to ~5 days at C=2.78, sharply rises to ~46 days at C=2.98, and exceeds 67 days at C=3.18. The stepped growth results from discontinuous intersections between stable manifolds and the minimum parking orbit.

Application Value

Minimum Time of Flight, Min TOF is a fundamental concept in cislunar mission design, playing an important role in orbital design and tracking planning.

References

  • Liang et al. 2016
Improve this page
Last Updated:
Contributors: ouyangjiahong, Ou Yang Jiahong