Thesis (Ph.D.)--Drexel University, 2009. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-220).

Ce projet se place dans le contexte des futures missions habitées d’exploration du système solaire (avec un horizon de 2025), en respect de la feuille de route proposée par l’ISECG (International Space Exploration Coordination Group) [1]. Une nouvelle avancée serait de maintenir, à un des points de Lagrange du système Terre-Lune, en avant-poste, une station spatiale qui faciliterait l’accès vers les destinations telles que la Lune, Mars et les astéroïdes et permettrait de tester certaines technologies, notamment avant de les employer pour des missions plus lointaines. Un des principaux défis sera de maintenir en permanence et de garantir à bord la santé de l’équipage, à l’aide d’un centre médical (SMC) autonome arrimé à cette station. Se pose alors la problématique de la servitude d’une telle station, pendant la phase de déploiement (assemblage des différents modules constitutifs du centre médical) et la phase opérationnelle. Les enjeux résident, d’un point de vue global, dans la construction des scénarios opérationnels et, d’un point de vue local, la sélection de trajectoires, cherchant notamment à minimiser les incréments de vitesse (la dépense énergétique) et les temps de transport (sauvegarde des équipages). Quelles recommandations pourrait-on apporter en terme d’optimisation de trajectoire, satisfaisant des critères de dépense énergétique, durée de transport et sécurité ? Quels sont les verrous technologiques à lever pour permettre la réalisation d’une telle station spatiale? Quelles seraient les performances à viser pour les sous-systèmes critiques impliqués? Les résultats d’une telle étude permettraient d’ouvrir des perspectives de recherche et développement dans le domaine des vols habités, notamment dans le domaine du transport mais également dans l’optique d’une occupation de longue durée. / In the context of future human space exploration missions in the solar system (with an horizon of 2025) and according to the roadmap proposed by ISECG (International Space Exploration Coordination Group) [1], a new step could be to maintain as an outpost, at one of the libration points of the Earth-Moon system, a space station. This would ease access to far destinations as Moon, Mars and asteroids and would allow to test some innovative technologies, before employing them for far distant human missions. One of the main challenges will be to maintain permanently, and ensure on board crew health thanks to an autonomous space medical center docked to the proposed space station, as a Space haven. Then the main problem to solve is to manage the station servitude, during deployment (modules integration) and operational phase. Challenges lie, on a global point of view, in the design of the operational scenarios and, on a local point of view, in trajectories selection, so as to minimize velocity increments (energy consumption) and transportation duration (crew safety). Which recommendations could be found out as far as trajectories optimization is concerned, that would fulfill energy consumption, transportation duration and safety criterion? What would technological hurdles be to rise for the building of such Space haven? What would be performances to aim at for critical sub-systems? Expected results of this study could point out research and development perspectives for human spaceflight missions and above all, in transportation field for long lasting missions.Thus, the thesis project, presented here, aims at from global system life-cycle decomposition, to identify by phase operational scenario and optimize resupply vehicle mission. The main steps of this project consist in:- Bibliographical survey, that covers all involved disciplines like mission analysis (Astrodynamics, Orbital mechanics, Orthography, N-Body Problem, Rendezvous…), Applied Mathematics, Optimization, Systems Engineering….- Entire system life-cycle analysis, so as to establish the entire set of scenarios for deployment and operations (nominal cases, degraded cases, contingencies…) and for all trajectories legs (Low Earth Orbit, Transfer, Rendezvous, re-entry…)- Trade-off analysis for Space Station architecture- Modeling of the mission legs trajectories- Trajectories optimizationThree main scenarios have been selected from the results of the preliminary design of the Space Station, named THOR: the Space Station deployment, the resupply cargo missions and the crew transportation. The deep analysis of those three main steps sorted out the criticality of the rendezvous strategies in the vicinity of Lagrangian points. A special effort has been set on those approach maneuvers. The optimization of those rendezvous trajectories led to consolidate performances (in term of energy and duration) of the global transfer from the Earth to the Lagrangian point neighborhood and return. Finally, recommendations have been deduced that support the Lagrangian points importance for next steps of Human Spaceflight exploration of the Solar system.

Sammanfattning De flesta barn fängslas och visar intresse för temat rymden och finner vanligtvis att det är ett mycket intressant ämne. Fokusgruppen har varit elever i årskurs 4-6 och efter några större bortfall var det slutligen elever ifrån 8 klasser som deltog, totalt 94 elever. Eleverna fick svara på en enkät där eleverna i både text och bild bland annat fick förklara hur de trodde att objekten i sol–jord–månsystemet samverkade och rörde sig i förhållande till varandra, vad de placerade i centrum för detta system, hur de såg på orsaken till årstider samt varför vi har dag och natt. De två pedagogerna som undervisade klasserna fick svara på några frågor om hur de såg på undervisningen om astronomi, om den undervisningsmetod de använde sig av och på elevernas lärande och förståelse för ämnet astronomi.    I denna undersökning kunde samma typer av missuppfattningar ses hos dessa elever, som de missuppfattningar som har dykt upp i en rad olika undersökningar som genomförts tidigare år med andra barn ifrån olika länder. Några av de missuppfattningar som fanns hos eleverna i denna undersökning var bland annat att jorden var mittpunkten, något som en femtedel av eleverna visade. Att sol och måne låg i samma omloppsbana runt jorden, årstiderna orsakas av att avståndet till solen förändras och att dag/natt beror på jordens omloppsbana runt solen var några andra missuppfattningar som rådde bland eleverna. Användandet av konkret material och 3D-modeller i undervisningen om rymden tycks vara en viktig del för elevernas förståelse av området.   Nyckelord: undervisning om rymden – astronomiska missförstånd – årstider – dag/natt – omloppsbanor i sol–jord–månsystemet / Abstract Most children find astronomy an interesting subject and usually show an interest during lessons about the subject. The focus group in this paper is Swedish students in school year 4-6. In total there were 94 students from eight classes who answered the survey with simple drawings and explanations about for example how they thought the objects Sun–Earth–Moon orbit each other, which object they placed as the center in this system, what causes season and the reason behind day and night. Two teachers whom educate the students answered some questions about their teaching method, their thoughts about the subject in question and the students learning and understanding of astronomy.   In the study that are presented in this paper the same types of astronomical misconceptions can be seen amongst these students, that has been shown in similar studies of children all over the world. 20 % of the children in this study showed an earth centered Sun–Earth–Moon system. Other misconceptions that were shown was: the sun and the moon shares the same orbit around the earth, that the seasons are caused by the distance to the sun changing and that day and night happens because the earth orbits the sun. The use of concrete material and 3D-models in the education seemed to be important for the students understanding of the subject.   Keywords: Astronomy education – astronomy misconceptions – seasons – day/night – Celestial Motion in the Sun–Earth–Moon system

Au cours des dernières décennies, l’étude de la dynamique autour des points de Lagrange des systèmes Terre-Lune (EMLi) et Terre-Soleil (SELi) a ouvert de nouvelles possibilités pour les orbites et les transferts spatiaux. Souvent modélisés comme des Problèmes à Trois Corps (CR3BP) distincts, ces deux systèmes ont également été combinés pour produire des trajectoiresà faible coût dans le système Terre-Lune-Soleil étendu. Cette approximation (PACR3BP) a permis de mettre en évidence un réseau à faible énergie de trajectoires (LEN) qui relie la Terre, la Lune, EML1,2 et SEL1,2. Cependant, pour chaque trajectoire calculée, le PACR3BP nécessite une connexion arbitraire entre les CR3BPs, ce qui complique son utilisation systématique. Cette thèse vise à mettre en place une modélisation à quatre corps non autonome pour l’étude du LEN basé sur un système Hamiltonien périodique cohérent, le Problème Quasi-Bicirculaire (QBCP). Tout d’abord, la Méthode de Paramétrisation est appliquée afin d’obtenir une représentation semi-analytique des variétés invariantes autour de chaque point de Lagrange. Une recherche systématique de connexions EML1,2-SEL1,2 peut alors être effectuée dans l’espace des paramètres : les conditions initiales sur la variété centrale-instable de EML1,2 sont propagées et les trajectoires résultantes sont projetées sur la variété centrale de SEL1,2 . Un transfert est détecté lorsque la distance de projection est proche de zéro. Les familles de transfert obtenues sont corrigées dans un modèle newtonien haute-fidélité du système solaire. La structure globale des connections est largement préservée et valide l’utilisation du QBCP comme modèle de base du LEN. / In recent decades, the dynamics about the libration points of the Sun-Earth (SELi) and Earth-Moon (EMLi ) systems have been increasingly studied and used, both in terms of transfer trajectory computation and nominal orbit design. Often seen as two distinct Circular Restricted Three Body Problems (CR3BP), both systems have also been combined to produce efficient transfers in the Sun-Earth-Moon system. This patched CR3BP approximation (PACR3BP) allowed to uncover a low-energy network (LEN) of trajectories that interconnect the Earth, the Moon, EML1,2 and SEL1,2 . However, for every computed trajectory, the PACR3BP requires an arbitrary connection between the CR3BPs, which limits its use in a systematic tool. This thesis introduces a single non-autonomous four-body framework for the study of the LEN based on a coherent periodically-forced Hamiltonian system, the Quasi-Bicircular Problem (QBCP). First, the Parameterization Method is applied in order to obtain high-order, periodic, semi-analytical parameterizations of the invariant manifolds about each libration point. A systematic search for EML1,2 -SEL1,2 connections can then be performed in the parameterization space: initial conditions on the center-unstable manifold at EML1,2 are propagated and projected on the center manifold at SEL1,2. A transfer is found each time that the distance of projection is close to zero. These trajectories are refined as solutions of a Boundary Value Problem, which uncover families of natural transfers, later transitioned into a higher-fidelity model. The global structure of the connecting orbits is largely preserved, which validates the QBCP as a relevant model for the LEN.

<div>As destinations of missions in both human and robotic spaceflight become more exotic, a foundational understanding the dynamical structures in the gravitational environments enable more informed mission trajectory designs. One particular type of structure, quasi-periodic orbits, are examined in this investigation. Specifically, efficient computation of quasi-periodic orbits and leveraging quasi-periodic orbits as trajectory design alternatives in the Earth-Moon and Sun-Earth systems. First, periodic orbits and their associated center manifold are discussed to provide the background for the existence of quasi-periodic motion on n-dimensional invariant tori, where n corresponds to the number of fundamental frequencies that define the motion. Single and multiple shooting differential corrections strategies are summarized to compute families 2-dimensional tori in the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP) using a stroboscopic mapping technique, originally developed by Howell and Olikara. Three types of quasi-periodic orbit families are presented: constant energy, constant frequency ratio, and constant mapping time families. Stability of quasi-periodic orbits is summarized and characterized with a single stability index quantity. For unstable quasi-periodic orbits, hyperbolic manifolds are computed from the differential of a discretized invariant curve. The use of quasi-periodic orbits is also demonstrated for destination orbits and transfer trajectories. Quasi-DROs are examined in the CR3BP and the Sun-Earth-Moon ephemeris model to achieve constant line of sight with Earth and avoid lunar eclipsing by exploiting orbital resonance. Arcs from quasi-periodic orbits are leveraged to provide an initial guess for transfer trajectory design between a planar Lyapunov orbit and an unstable halo orbit in the Earth-Moon system. Additionally, quasi-periodic trajectory arcs are exploited for transfer trajectory initial guesses between nearly stable periodic orbits in the Earth-Moon system. Lastly, stable hyperbolic manifolds from a Sun-Earth L₁ quasi-vertical orbit are employed to design maneuver-free transfer from the LEO vicinity to a quasi-vertical orbit.</div>