Using Low Thrust Propulsion to Pulsed Orbit Control of the Lunar Polar Satellites
Daniela Cardozo Mourão1; Brunno da Silva Moraes2; Othon Cabo Winter1; José Leonardo Ferreira2
1 UNESP - São Paulo State University; 2 University of Brasília
Resumo
It is well known that lunar satellites in polar orbits suffer a high increase on the eccentricity due to the gravitational perturbation of the Earth. That effect is a natural consequence of the Lidov-Kozai resonance. The final fate of such satellites is the collision with the Moon. Therefore, the control of the orbital eccentricity leads to the control of the satellite's lifetime. In the present work we study this problem and introduce an approach in order to keep the orbital eccentricity of the satellite at low values. We studied different arcs of active lunar satellite propulsion, centered on the orbit apoapsis or periapsis, in order to be able to introduce a correction of the eccentricity at each cycle. The proposed method is based on an approach intended to keep the orbital eccentricity of the satellite at low values.