All Questions
Tagged with orbital-mechanicsthe-moon
85 questions
1vote
0answers
54views
Is a low energy transfer straight to the L1 earth-moon lagrange point more delta-v intensive than a ballistic capture?
Going from Low Earth orbit to Lunar orbit, all missions I came across that used a low energy transfer (GRAIL,CAPSTONE,SLIM to name a few) first went out to the Earth-Sun L1 lagrange point, and then ...
1vote
0answers
65views
What is the order of magnitude of perturbing forces in a lunar orbit in relation to the orbital altitude?
Although there are many sources that compare the magnitude of perturbing forces in an Earth orbit (see for example the answer to this question), I haven't been able to find the same information for ...
- 11
12votes
3answers
5kviews
What assumptions were made about the sphericity of the Moon for the Apollo program?
I've just been reading about the Apollo program. Apollo 8 seems to have gone into a fairly circular lunar orbit 69 miles at perigee. Apollo 10 was pretty much similar, although they dipped down with ...
- 343
13votes
2answers
2kviews
Why is the Orion capsule using 2 burns to transfer from the moon back to earth instead of one?
I was reading an article about how the Orion capsule just did the first of two burns that it will use to transfer out of its lunar orbit and back to Earth. I understand the phenomenon of a gravity ...
- 233
0votes
0answers
84views
Why does the the Artemis I translunar flight (have to) last 6 days while the Apollo fights to the Moon lasted only about 3 days? [duplicate]
Does the Artemis I flight to the Moon have to last so long compared to the about 3 days long lasting Apollo flights because the Orion spacecraft has to enter into a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) ? Or ...
- 7,591
1vote
0answers
47views
Time a rocky satellite in lunar "frozen" orbit spends in Earth's umbra during total lunar eclipse
I am wondering how long a large satellite in a lunar frozen orbit would remain in the Earth's umbra during a total lunar eclipse. The satellite is spheroid with a diameter of 200 km. Let us say that ...
- 111
3votes
0answers
60views
Is a geosynchronous (SSO-like) polar orbit around the Moon possible? [duplicate]
Imagine the equivalent of a sun-synchronous Earth orbit, just substituting the Moon for Earth and Earth for Sun. Such an orbit would have to have the following properties: It would be a polar or near-...
- 1,890
7votes
5answers
3kviews
Gravitational field of the Moon and Earth
Is there any method to find a point or plane in space where the gravitational field of the Moon and Earth are the same? And if so, what happens to a spacecraft if it passes through that point or ...
0votes
2answers
842views
Why doesn't NASA fly its rockets on suborbital trajectories to the Moon?
After trying it out in Kerbal Space Program for a while, I was wondering why NASA doesn't fly on suborbital trajectories to the Moon. When I tested this idea in Kerbal Space Program I found out that ...
- 6,933
4votes
0answers
75views
Is the impact of Chang’e 5-T1 rocket stage on the Moon's far side on March 4th likely to launch any debris into Moon or Earth orbit?
It is predicted that the Chang’e 5-T1 rocket stage will impact the Moon's far side on March 4th. The stage apparently weighs about 4 tonnes and will impact at 2.5 km/s at a shallow angle. There's ...
- 3,974
25votes
5answers
4kviews
Delta-v to hit the moon: is reaching Lunar L1 enough?
Lot of questions involve shooting things into the Sun. But there are no aliens on the Sun: they are on the Moon. I want to drop things on them, but since there's lot of them, I can just drop a ...
- 361
4votes
2answers
471views
Optimal inclination for a long term LEO station serving as an intermediate stop to and from the Moon
Consider we want to build a long term LEO station which serves as an intermediate stop for flights to the Moon and back (possibly with aerobrake). Refueling, docking, crew transfers etc. Several ...
user54
5votes
2answers
1kviews
Is there a way (working or in development) to track satellites in lunar orbit like we track objects in Earth Orbit?
I understand that Earth orbiting satellites are tracked using technologies such as radar, but due to the distance between the Earth and the Moon, they aren't really useful for Moon sats. Is the ...
- 193
5votes
4answers
227views
Would knocking the moon off it’s tidal lock with Earth affect its orbit?
Lots of discussion about terraforming the moon involves smacking it with a comet such that it rotates with a 24 hour ish period. But I don’t know if this will affect its orbit in any way. Is it ...
13votes
3answers
8kviews
Lowest possible lunar orbit and has any spacecraft achieved it?
Because the Moon has no atmosphere a spacecraft can theoretically cruise at a very low orbit. What is the lowest possible lunar orbit and which spacecraft achieved it? Was it the Lunar Module of ...
- 1,503
