Low energy transfer to the Moon (Q5960102)

In 1991 the Japanese Hiten mission used a low energy transfer with a ballistic capture at the Moon which required less \(\Delta V\) than a standard Hohmann transfer. In this paper the authors apply the dynamical system techniques developed in their earlier works to reproduce systematically a Hiten-like mission. They approximate the Sun-Earth-Moon-spacecraft four-body system as two three-body systems. Using the invariant manifold structure of Lagrange points of three-body system, they construct low energy transfer trajectories from the Earth which execute ballistic capture at the Moon. The techniques used in the design of this trajectory may be applied in many situations.