Effects of Radiation Pressure on the Elliptic Restricted Four-Body Problem

In this paper, under the effects of the largest primary radiation pressure, the elliptic restricted four-body problem is formulated in Hamiltonian form. Moreover, the canonical equations are obtained which are considered as the equations of motion. The Lagrangian points within the frame of the elliptic restricted four-body problem are obtained. The true anomalies are considered as independent variables. An analytical and numerical approach had been used. A code of Mathematica version 12 is constructed to truncate these considerations and is applied on the Earth-Moon-Sun system. In addition, the stability and periodicity of the motion about the equilibrium points are studied by using the Poincare maps. The motion about the collinear point L2 is presented as an example for the obtained results, and some families of periodic orbits are presented.

Properties of the lunar gravity assisted transfers from LEO to the retrograde-GEO

The retrograde geostationary earth orbit (retro-GEO) is an Earth’s orbit. It has almost the same orbital altitude with that of a GEO, but an inclination of 180°. A retro-GEO monitor-satellite gives the GEO-assets vicinity space-debris warnings per 12 h. For various reasons, the westward launch direction is not compatible or economical. Thereby the transfer from a low earth orbit (LEO) to the retro-GEO via once lunar swing-by is a priority. The monitor-satellite departures from LEO and inserts into the retro-GEO both using only one tangential maneuver, in this paper, its transfer’s property is investigated. The existence of this transfer is verified firstly in the planar circular restricted three-body problem (CR3BP) model based on the Poincaré-section methodology. Then, the two-impulse values and the perilune altitudes are computed with different transfer durations in the planar CR3BP. Their dispersions are compared with different Sun azimuths in the planar bi-circular restricted four-body problem (BR4BP) model. Besides, the transfer’s inclination changeable capacity via lunar swing-by and the Sun-perturbed inclination changeable capacity are investigated. The results show that the two-impulse fuel-optimal transfer has the duration of 1.76 TU (i.e., 7.65 days) with the minimum values of 4.251 km s−1 in planar CR3BP, this value has a range of 4.249–4.252 km s−1 due to different Sun azimuths in planar BR4BP. Its perilune altitude changes from 552.6 to 621.9 km. In the spatial CR3BP, if the transfer duration is more than or equal to 4.00 TU (i.e., 17.59 days), the lunar gravity assisted transfer could insert the retro-GEO with any inclination. In the spatial BR4BP, the Sun’s perturbation does not affect this conclusion in most cases.

Nonlinear Stability of Equilibrium Points in the Planar Equilateral Restricted Mass-Unequal Four-Body Problem

In this paper, we investigate the stability of equilibrium points for the planar restricted equilateral four-body problem in the case that one particle of negligible mass is moving under the Newtonian gravitational attraction of three positive masses [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] (called primaries). These always lie at the vertices of an equilateral triangle (Lagrangian configuration) and move with constant angular velocity in circular orbits around their center of masses. We consider the case where all the primaries have unequal masses, and investigate the nonlinear stability (in the sense of Lyapunov) of the elliptic equilibrium for the specific values of the mass [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of the primary, fixed on the horizontal axis. Moreover, the [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]:[Formula: see text][Formula: see text] four-order resonant cases are determined and the stability is investigated. In this study, Markeev’s theorem and Arnold’s theorem become key ingredients.