A Study on Earth-Moon Transfer Orbit Design

Optimal transfer trajectories based on the planar circular restricted three body problem are designed by using mixed impulsive and continuous thrust. Continuous and dynamic trajectory optimization is reformulated in the form of discrete optimization problem. This is done by the method of direct transcription and collocation. It is then solved by using nonlinear programming software. Two very different transfer trajectories can be obtained by the different combinations of the design parameters. Furthermore, it was found out that all designed trajectories permit a ballistic capture by the Moon's gravity. Finally, the required thrust profiles are presented and they are analyzed in detail.