A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Space Science » Technology
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Lagrangian orbital oddity



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old December 29th 03, 09:35 PM
Jim McCauley
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Lagrangian orbital oddity

Imagine drawing an equilateral triangle with its base between Earth and the
Moon and its apex at, say, L4. Now rotate the triangle about its base
"north" of the Earth-Moon system, through L5, then "south" back to L4.

This rotation describes a circle that is at right angles to a line between
Earth and Moon, and equidistant from each. As Earth and Moon orbit around
each other, this circle rotates about Earth once per month.

Now, place a spacecraft at L4 and accelerate it along this circle until the
craft reaches an angular velocity (relative to Earth) that is the same as
the Moon's but at 90 degrees to it.

If I am visualizing the resulting orbit correctly, the spacecraft will pass
through L4 and L5 once per orbit, with an orbital period identical to that
of the Moon. Is this correct? Is this orbit stable?

If so, to what uses might it be put? Perhaps three or four satellites
sharing such an orbit might be able to support polar communications for both
Earth and Moon, albeit at a high energy cost for the link, which is
essentially the same as lunar distance.


Jim McCauley


 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
inflation st yle heat shield crew bail out Rob Mohr Space Shuttle 11 April 5th 04 03:35 AM
Boeing Establishes Orbital Space Program Office Jacques van Oene Space Shuttle 0 November 3rd 03 11:23 PM
Boeing Establishes Orbital Space Program Office Jacques van Oene Space Station 0 November 3rd 03 11:23 PM
Three aerospace innovators Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Orbital Sciences Combine strengths to design and build NASA's Orbital Space Plane Jacques van Oene Space Shuttle 1 October 15th 03 12:21 AM
Three aerospace innovators Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Orbital Sciences Combine strengths to design and build NASA's Orbital Space Plane Jacques van Oene Space Station 0 October 14th 03 03:31 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:56 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.