Abstract
Measurements of Earth’s atmosphere as it occults sunlight can be obtained advantageously from a spacecraft placed in the proximity of the Sun-Earth Lagrange point ℒ2. Maintaining the condition of continuous solar occultation by all parts of the atmospheric disk requires that the displacement of the spacecraft perpendicular to the Sun-Earth line remains less than 200 km. However, the gravitational force exerted by the Earth’s moon must be negated by propulsion in order to meet this rather tight constraint. We provide an estimate of propulsive force needed to keep the spacecraft coincident with ℒ2, as well as estimates of velocity increments needed to maintain various trajectories in the close vicinity of ℒ2.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
FARQUHAR, R. W. and DUNHAM, D. W. “Use of Libration-point Orbits for Space Observatories,” Observatories in Earth Orbit and Beyond, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 1990, pp. 391–395.
FARQUHAR, R. W. “The Role of the Sun-Earth Collinear Libration Points in Future Space Exploration,” Space Times, Nov.–Dec, 2000, pp. 9–12.
WISCOMBE, W., HERMAN, J., and VALERO, F. “L-1 and L-2 Observatories for Earth Science in the Post-2010 Era,” International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2002, IEEE, IGARSS ‘02, Vol. 1, 2002, pp. 365–367.
BREAKWELL, J. V. and BROWN, J. V. “The ‘Halo’ Family of 3-Dimensional Periodic Orbits in the Earth-Moon Restricted 3-Body Problem,” Celestial Mechanics, Vol. 20, Nov. 1979, pp. 389–404.
HOWELL, K. C. and BREAKWELL, J. V. “Almost Rectilinear Halo Orbits,” Celestial Mechanics, Vol. 32, 1984, pp. 29–52.
FARQUHAR, R. W. “The Moon’s Influence on the Location of the Sun-Earth Exterior Libration Point,” Celestial Mechanics, Vol. 2, July 1970, pp. 131–133.
COLOMBO, G. “The Stabilization of an Artificial Satellite at the Inferior Conjunction Point of the Earth-Moon System,” Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Special Report No. 80, 1961.
NICHOLSON, F.T. “Effect of Solar Perturbation on Motion Near the Collinear Earth-Moon Libration Points,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 5, No. 12, Dec. 1967, pp. 2237–2241.
FARQUHAR, R. W. “The Control and Use of Libration-Point Satellites,” NASA TR R-346, 1970.
BATTIN, R. H. An Introduction to The Mathematics and Methods of Astrodynamics, AIAA, New York, 1987.
HOWELL, K. C. and GUZMÁN, J. J. “Spacecraft Trajectory Design in the Context of a Coherent Restricted Four-body Problem with Application to the MAP Mission,” IAF Paper 00-A.5.06, 51st International Astronautical Congress, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 2–6, 2000.
The Astronomical Almanac for the Year 1999, Nautical Almanac Office, United States Naval Observatory, U.S. Government Printing Office.
SHEN, H., KUMAR, R. R., and SEYWALD, H. “Minimum-Fuel Periodic Orbits in the Vicinity of a Fixed Point on the Sun-Earth Line: The Planar Case,” Vol. 119, Advances in the Astronautical Sciences, Spaceflight Mechanics 2004, (proceedings of the 14th Annual AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting), pp. 2263–2276.
METTLER, E., AÇIKMEŞE, A. B., BRECKENRIDGE, W. G., MACENKA, S. A., and TUBBS, E. F. “Earth Atmosphere Observatory Formation at L2,” presented as paper AIAA 2004–5917 at the Space 2004 Conference and Exhibit, September 28–30, 2004, San Diego, California.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Roithmayr, C.M., Kay-Bunnell, L. Keeping a Spacecraft on the Sun-Earth Line. J of Astronaut Sci 53, 131–146 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03546346
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03546346