1. JSC 1 Earth Moon Libration Point (L1) Gateway Station – Libration Point Transfer Vehicle Kickstage Disposal Options Presented to the International Conference On Libration Point Orbits and Applications June 10-14, 2002, Parador d’Aiguablava, Girona, Spain G. L. Condon, NASA – Johnson Space Center / EG5, 281-483-8173, gerald.l.condon1@jsc.nasa.gov C. L. Ranieri, NASA – Johnson Space Center S. Wilson, Elgin Software, Inc.

2. JSC 2 Acknowledgements Chris Ranieri* – orbit lifetime analysis Joey Broome # – STK/Astrogator validation/movie Sam Wilson + – software development / analysis Daniel M. Delwood + – analysis * JSC Co-op # JSC Engineer + Elgin Software, Inc.

3. JSC 3 Outline Introduction Expeditionary vs. Evolutionary Missions Libration Point Transfer Vehicle (LTV) Kickstage Disposal Options Geocentric Orbit Lifetime Conclusion

4. JSC 4 Introduction The notion of human missions to libration points has been proposed for more than a generation The Gateway concept supports an Evolutionary vs. Expeditionary approach to exploration … A human-tended Earth-Moon (EM) libration point (L1) Gateway Station could support an infrastructure expanding human presence beyond low Earth orbit and serve as a staging location for human missions to: –The lunar surface –Mars –Asteroids, comets –Other libration point locations (NGST, TPF) –…

5. JSC 5 Expeditionary vs. Evolutionary Single mission or mission set Completed mission satisfies mission objectives Closed-end missions Apollo Skylab Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Columbus’ voyage of discovery to the new world Apollo Skylab Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Columbus’ voyage of discovery to the new world Examples

6. JSC 6 Expeditionary vs. Evolutionary Ongoing missions Open-end missions on which other missions can build Greater initial capital investment  International Space Station program  Voyages of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal  The man chiefly responsible for Portugal’s age of exploration  International Space Station program  Voyages of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal  The man chiefly responsible for Portugal’s age of exploration Examples

7. JSC 7 Earth-Moon L1 – Gateway for Lunar Surface Operations Celestial park-n-ride Close to home (3-4 days) Staging to: –Moon –Sun-Earth L2 –Mars –Asteroids –… Sun-Earth L2 NGST TPF Near Earth Asteroids Mars

8. JSC 8 Gateway Operations – LTV Kickstage Disposal Ongoing Gateway operations require robust capability for delivery & retrieval of a crew Human occupation of the Gateway Station requires a human transfer system in the form of a Libration Point Transfer Vehicle (LTV) designed to ferry the crew between low Earth orbit and the Gateway Station. A key element of such a system is the proper and safe disposal of the LTV kickstage

9. JSC 9 Purpose 1.Identify concepts concerning the role of humans in libration point space missions 2.Examine mission design considerations for an Earth- Moon libration point (L1) gateway station 3.Assess delta-V (  V) cost to retarget Earth-Moon L1 Gateway-bound LTV spacecraft kickstage to a selected disposal destination

10. JSC 10 LTV Kickstage Diverted to Disposal Destination LTV Kickstage Disposal Options Options considered for LTV kickstage disposal: 1.Lunar Swingby to Heliocentric Orbit (HO) 2.Lunar Vertical Impact (LVI), typifies any lunar impact 3.Direct Return to Remote Ocean Area (DROA) 4.Lunar Swingby to Remote Ocean Area (SROA) 5.Transfer to Long Lifetime Geocentric Orbit (GO) LTV/Kickstage Injection Toward L1 LTV Crew Cab Continues to L1 LTV / Kickstage Separation

11. JSC 11 Methodology Evaluation Timeframe - 2006 Mission Year Chosen –Survey two week period of L1 arrivals yielding max (80.2 o ) and min (23.0 o ) plane changes ever possible at L1 for crewed spacecraft 28.6 o lunar orbit inclination; coplanar departure from 51.6 o ISS orbit Moon goes from perigee to apogee during the chosen 2-week period; begins and ends on the equator Combine max and min plane changes with arrivals at L1 perigee and apogee by looking at both choices of arrival velocity azimuth (northerly and southerly) for every arrival date (requires arbitrary ISS orbit nodes) Lunar Orbit Inclination 51.6 o 28.6 o 80.2 o Earth Equator Earth Parking Orbit Moon Earth L1 (Between Earth And Moon) Maximum L1 Arrival Wedge Angle @ Libration Point Arrival = 80.2 o Earth Equator Lunar Orbit Inclination = 28.6 o (max. ever)

12. JSC 12 Methodology (continued) HO, LVI, DROA, SROA, and GO maneuver times designed to minimize  V for stage disposal subject to imposed constraints –Solutions considered to be a practical attempt to minimize these maneuver  Vs (e.g.: coplanar kickstage deflection maneuver assumed optimal for some disposal options) and not rigorous global optimizations Analysis Analysis Tools –Earth Orbit to Lunar Libration (EOLL) scanner* Four-body model –Earth, moon, sun, spacecraft –Jean Meeus's analytic lunar and solar ephemerides Overlapped conic split boundary value solutions individually calibrated to multiconic accuracy –Validation with STK/Astrogator * Developed and updated by Sam Wilson

13. JSC 13 Option 1. Lunar Swing-By to Heliocentric Orbit (HO) 1. Libration Point Transfer Vehicle (LTV) spacecraft with Kickstage in initial 407 x 407 km parking orbit L1 2.. Kickstage injects spacecraft & kickstage onto transfer trajectory toward L1 4. Jettisoned kickstage performs maneuver to achieve close encounter with moon 6. Kickstage flies behind trailing limb of Moon to achieve geocentric C3>0 (hence departure from Earth- Moon system) Moon 3. Coast phase; Kickstage jettison Earth 5. Spacecraft arrives at L1 Nominal crew vehicle trajectory to Earth-Moon L1 -Trip time = 3.5 days (84 hours) - Braking maneuver at L1 84 3.5 day transfer

14. JSC 14 Option 1. Lunar Swing-By to Heliocentric Orbit (HO) Video

15. JSC 15 Option 1. Lunar Swing-By to Heliocentric Orbit (HO) Moon at Perigee Moon at Apogee

16. JSC 16 Option 1. Lunar Swing-By to Heliocentric Orbit (HO) Advantages –No Earth or Lunar disposal issues (e.g., impact location, debris footprint, litter) –Relatively low disposal  V cost Disadvantages –Heliocentric space litter (kickstage heliocentric orbit near that of the earth) –Periodic possibility of re-contact with Earth

17. JSC 17 Option 2. Lunar Vertical Impact (LVI) 1. Lunar Transfer Vehicle (LTV) spacecraft with Kickstage in initial 407 x 407 km parking orbit L1 2. Kickstage injects spacecraft & kickstage onto transfer trajectory toward L1 4. Jettisoned kickstage performs maneuver to achieve lunar impact 6. Kickstage impacts Lunar surface Moon 3. Coast phase Kickstage jettison Earth 5. Spacecraft arrives at L1

18. JSC 18 Option 2. Lunar Vertical Impact (LVI) Video

19. JSC 19 Option 2. Lunar Vertical Impact (LVI) Moon at Perigee Moon at Apogee

20. JSC 20 Option 2. Lunar Vertical Impact (LVI) Advantages –No Earth disposal issues (e.g., impact location, debris footprint, litter, possible recontact) Disadvantage –Lunar litter –Relatively high disposal  V cost

21. JSC 21 Option 3. Direct Return to Remote Ocean Area (DROA) 1. Lunar Transfer Vehicle (LTV) spacecraft with Kickstage in initial 407 x 407 km parking orbit L1 2. Kickstage injects spacecraft & kickstage onto transfer trajectory toward L1 4. Jettisoned kickstage performs maneuver to achieve 20  atmospheric entry angle and mid-ocean impact 5. Spacecraft arrives at L1 6.Kickstage returns to Earth for ocean impact Moon 3. Coast phase; Kickstage jettison Earth

22. JSC 22 Option 3. Direct Return to Remote Ocean Area (DROA)  V Budget Gives 240 o Longitude Control Entry flight path angle = -20 o selected –Confines surface debris footprint Impact latitude is determined by: 1.Spacecraft date of arrival at L1 and 2.Choice of northerly or southerly velocity azimuth at L1 arrival From an established (e.g., ISS) earth orbit, these two degrees of freedom typically yield two or three transfer opportunities to L1 every month. Impact longitude depends on (1.) and (2.) above, plus 3. Atmospheric entry time chosen for the kickstage Minimizing the kickstage deflection  V determines an unique (and essentially random) impact longitude for an arbitrary transfer opportunity. Kickstage budget gives 240 degrees of longitude control –If kickstage disposal is not to constrain the primary mission, the kickstage  V budget must be sufficient to allow the impact point to be moved from its minimum-  V location to an Atlantic or a Pacific mid-ocean line. –At any latitude, the maximum longitude difference between the chosen mid- ocean lines is 240 degrees (see next chart).

23. JSC 23 Option 3. Direct Return to Remote Ocean Area (DROA) Shaded Region Contains Max Longitude Difference (240 o ) Between Mid-Atlantic and Mid-Pacific Target Lines x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Ocean Impact demo location

24. JSC 24 Option 3. Direct Return to Remote Ocean Area (DROA) Video

25. JSC 25 Option 3. Direct Return to Remote Ocean Area (DROA) Moon at Perigee Moon at Apogee

26. JSC 26 Option 3. Direct Return to Remote Ocean Area (DROA) Data shown represent best of two solution subtypes –Generally there are two local optima for the location of the kickstage maneuver point in the earth-to-L1 transfer trajectory, of which the better one was always chosen Advantages –Assuming kickstage disposal is not allowed to constrain the primary mission, this option is one of three (HO,DROA,GO) requiring the lowest  V budget that could be found (slightly more than 90 m/s in all three cases) –Avoidance of close lunar encounter, combined with steep entry over wide areas of empty ocean minimizes criticality of navigation and maneuver execution errors Disadvantages –Not appropriate if kickstage contains radioactive or other hazardous material

27. JSC 27 Option 4. Lunar Swingby to Remote Ocean Area (SROA) 1. Lunar Transfer Vehicle (LTV) spacecraft with Kickstage in initial 407 x 407 km parking orbit L1 2. Kickstage injects spacecraft & kickstage onto transfer trajectory toward L1 4. Jettisoned kickstage performs maneuver to achieve close encounter with moon 5. Spacecraft arrives at Earth-Moon L1 6.Kickstage passes in front of Moon’s leading limb and returns to Earth for ocean impact 3. Coast phase; Kickstage jettison

28. JSC 28 Option 4. Lunar Swingby to Remote Ocean Area (SROA)

29. JSC 29 Option 4. Lunar Swingby to Remote Ocean Area (SROA) Moon at Perigee Moon at Apogee

30. JSC 30 Option 4. Lunar Swingby to Remote Ocean Area (SROA) Advantages –None identified Disadvantages –This option requires a greater  V budget than any other one examined. The  V values shown are minimum values for impact at an essentially random location. The  V required for longitude control will be even higher –Inherent sensitivity of this kind of trajectory is almost certain to require extended lifetime of the control system to perform midcourse corrections before and after perisel passage

31. JSC 31 Option 5. Transfer to Long Lifetime Geocentric Orbit (GO) 1. Lunar Transfer Vehicle (LTV) crew module with Kickstage in initial 407 x 407 km parking orbit 2. Kickstage injects crew module & kickstage onto transfer trajectory toward L1 4a. Jettisoned kickstage performs retargeted Earth parking orbit maneuver 6.Kickstage continues on parking orbit Moon 3. Coast phase Kickstage jettison Earth 5. Crew module arrives at L1 L1 4b. Alternatively, kickstage may raise perigee with maneuver at/near apogee of Earth-L1 transfer orbit

32. JSC 32 Option 5. Transfer to Long Lifetime Geocentric Orbit (GO) Video

33. JSC 33 Option 5. Transfer to Long Lifetime Geocentric Orbit (GO) Moon at Perigee Moon at Apogee

34. JSC 34 Option 5. Transfer to Long Lifetime Geocentric Orbit (GO) Advantages –Preferable to deliberate ocean impact if kickstage carries hazardous material –In 4 of the 22 cases studied, the  V requirement for GO disposal (into an orbit having a perigee altitude of 6600 km and an apogee altitude in the range of 300000 – 370000 km) was less than 12 m/s, which is much lower than that found for any other option considered. –Assuming the 22 cases represent an unbiased sample of all possible transfers between earth orbit and L1, this implies that a 12 m/s budget would suffice if it were permissable to forgo all but about 20% of the otherwise-available transfer opportunities. Disadvantages –More orbital debris in the earth-moon system –The 12 m/s budget described above would increase the average interval between usable transfers to something like 50 days, as opposed to 10 days if transfer utilization were not allowed to be constrained by the disposal  V budget (which would then have to be more than 90 m/s). –To achieve acceptable orbit lifetime, lunar and solar perturbations may necessitate a higher perigee and/or lower apogees, either of which will increase the required  V.

35. JSC 35 HO, LVI, DROA, SROA, GO Transfer Delta-V vs. Libration Point Arrival Time  V Cost to Deflect LTV Kickstage from L1 Target to Disposal Destination 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 10/6/06 0:0010/8/06 0:0010/10/06 0:0010/12/06 0:0010/14/06 0:0010/16/06 0:0010/18/06 0:0010/20/06 0:00 Libration Point Arrival Time (mm/dd/yy hh:mm) Deflection  V (m/s) Key: N=North L1 Arrival Azimuth S=South L1 Arrival Azimuth HO = Heliocentric Orbit LVI = Lunar Vertical Impact DROA = Direct Remote Ocean Area SROA = (Lunar) Swingby Remote Ocean Area GO = Geocentric (Parking) Orbit HO N GO N DROA N LVI N SROA N HO S GO S DROA S LVI S SROA S Moon at Perigee Moon at Apogee Summary Results

36. JSC Geocentric Orbit Lifetime Study

37. JSC 37 Spacecraft (kickstage) initial condition – Apogee of LEO to EM L1 transfer orbit –Apogee range: 300,000 km – 371,000 km –Perigee range: 6600 km – 20,000 km 45 test case runs Results –56% of the test cases impacted the Earth within 10 years –Spacecraft cannot be left on transfer orbit –Further study to determine safe Apogee and Perigee Ranges Geocentric Orbit Lifetime

38. JSC 38 LTV Orbit Lifetime Note: A negative lifetime indicates LTV kickstage experienced either heliocentric departure from the Earth-Moon system or Lunar impact 45 transfer orbits in sample space

39. JSC 39 Summary Recommend Direct Remote Ocean Area impact disposal for cases without hazardous (e.g., radioactive) material on LTV kickstage –Controlled Earth contact –Relatively small disposal  V –Avoids close encounter with Moon –Trajectories can be very sensitive to initial conditions (at disposal maneuver)  V to correct for errors is small Recommend Heliocentric Orbit disposal for cases with hazardous material on LTV kickstage –No Earth or Lunar disposal issues (e.g., impact location, debris footprint, litter) –Relatively low disposal  V cost –Further study required to determine possibility of re-contact with Earth

40. JSC Additional Slides

41. JSC 41 Summary Results

42. JSC 42 Possible future missions to Earth-Moon (EM) L1 Libration Point – Gateway Station Need to develop safe disposal guidelines for such a mission –Do not want nuclear payloads crashing into Earth Earth Moon L1 - Orbit Lifetime Study

43. JSC 43 Three orbit lifetime studies using STK/Astrogator: 1.S/c left on transfer orbit to EM L1 with low perigee and an apogee near EM L1 (343,000 km) 2.S/c left at EM L1 with no relative velocity to EM L1 and no station keeping 3.S/c left at EM L1 with a parametric scan of impulsive delta-Vs of varying magnitudes and directions (0 - 360 degrees; 0 - 500 m/s) Propagation utilizes multiple gravitation sources –Earth (central), Sun, Moon, Mars, and Jupiter Coordinate System defined with origin at EM L1 Earth Moon L1 Study

44. JSC 44 The spacecraft possesses zero initial position and velocity relative to Earth-Moon L1 With no station-keeping maneuvers, spacecraft drifts from L1 position EM L1 location shifts as the Earth and Moon positions change –EM L1 Earth distance: 302830 km – 345298 km No Earth Impacts found – Either lunar impacts or the s/c uses the lunar gravity to go heliocentric –Un-discernable pattern (given data sample space) Earth-Moon L1 - Orbit Lifetime Spacecraft Initially at L1

45. JSC 45 L1 Orbit Lifetime vs. EM L1 Position in Lunar Cycle Orbit lifetimes <100 years result in either lunar impact or heliocentric trajectory (via lunar fly-by) No Earth impacts occurred (for these 18 sample propagations) Orbit lifetimes <100 years result in either lunar impact or heliocentric trajectory (via lunar fly-by) No Earth impacts occurred (for these 18 sample propagations)

46. JSC 46 Seven Total Earth Impacts Earth Impact for a case with a Δv as small as 10 m/s No discernible pattern to results by either magnitude, direction, or epoch for maneuver EM L1 Orbit Lifetime w/ Delta-Vs

47. JSC 47 Orbit Lifetime for Spacecraft at L1 Initial  V of 10-500 m/s; 360 o Range Relative to Initial Velocity

48. JSC 48 Maneuver at Earth-Moon L1 (345,187 km apogee)  V = 100 m/s Over 360 o Range of Direction 0.618 Years 1.71 Years 100 Years L1 Velocity Direction 100 Years In Earth Orbit 0.033 years 0.402 years 100 Years Earth Impact Lunar Impact Escape to Heliocentric Orbit

49. JSC 49 Further studies to better define safe disposal guidelines for s/c launched to EM L1 –Further examine lifetimes for s/c at or near EM L1 position and velocity –Examine transfers to other disposal orbits, possibly b/w GEO and EM L1 that are less affected by lunar perturbations –Write for paper to be possibly presented in Spain on this work EM L1 Orbit Lifetime – Future Work

50. JSC 50 Human Presence in Space Demonstrated benefit to human presence –Hubble Space Telescope deploy and repair –Retrieval of Long Duration Exposure Facility –Retrieval of Westar and Palapa satellites

51. JSC 51 Libration Point Missions Earth-Moon L1 –Gateway station Sorties to the Moon Satellite deploy, servicing –Next Generation Space Telescope –Terrestrial Planet Finder –Staging area for interplanetary and asteroid missions Earth-Moon L2 –Robotic relay satellites for backside operations Bent pipe communications Navigation aid Sun-Earth L2 –Human missions to extend human presence in space

52. JSC 52 Earth-Moon L1 –No lunar departure injection window –Reusability –Protection from failed station-keeping –Specialized vehicle design Lunar Mission: Libration Point vs. LOR Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) Shorter mission duration Lower overall  V cost Fewer critical maneuvers required Mission Scenario Advantages

53. JSC 53 Considerations for Human Lunar L1 Missions 18 year lunar inclination cycle Eccentricity of lunar orbit Performance cost versus time Frequency of outbound & inbound opportunities

54. JSC 54 18 Year Lunar Inclination Cycle

55. JSC 55 18 Year Lunar Inclination Cycle Lunar Orbit Inclination 51.6 o 28.6 o 23.0 o Earth Equator Earth Parking Orbit Moon Earth L1 (Between Earth And Moon) Minimum L1 Arrival Wedge Angle @ Libration Point Arrival = 23 o Lunar Orbit Inclination 51.6 o 28.6 o 80.2 o Earth Equator Earth Parking Orbit Moon Earth L1 (Between Earth And Moon) Maximum L1 Arrival Wedge Angle @ Libration Point Arrival = 80.2 o Earth Equator Lunar Orbit Inclination

56. JSC 56 Eccentricity of Lunar Orbit

57. JSC 57 Performance Cost vs. Time

58. JSC 58 Frequency of Outbound and Inbound Opportunities

59. JSC 59 Frequency of Outbound and Inbound Opportunities

60. JSC 60

61. JSC 61 Total Transfer  V vs LPA Time

62. JSC 62 Transfer  V vs LPA Time