Earth-Return Orbit

Author: Tianjiang Shuo

Website: https://cislunarspace.cn

Definition

A family of unstable periodic orbits (the a family) discovered by Hénon in Hill's modification of the three-body problem. A spacecraft following an ERO periodically approaches and departs from Earth; when continued toward L1, the orbit degenerates into a simple quasi-elliptic HLO. The half-cycle path of an ERO serves as part of the LEO-to-DRO transfer trajectory and is the foundation of Ocampo's classical transfer method.

Application Value

Earth-return orbit is the transfer trajectory for spacecraft returning from the Moon.

  • Earth-Moon Transfer Window
  • Lunar Orbit
  • Elliptical Lunar Frozen Orbit

References

  • Transfer to Distant Retrograde Orbits Using Manifold Theory
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Contributors: ouyangjiahong, Ou Yang Jiahong