Combining Two and Three-Body Dynamics for Low Energy Transfer Trajectories of Practical Interest

This paper presents 'an approach to obtain low energy interplanetary transfers based on the technique of the intersecting manifolds. At first, a full four-body model is divided into two three-body problems having the Sun and an inner planet as primaries. Then, manifolds that do not intersect are linked considering a Lambert's or a low thrust arc, obtained within an intermediate two-body model. The proposed patching conic-manifolds method exploits the two gravitational attractions of the bodies involved to change the energy level of the spacecraft and to perform a ballistic capture (at arrival) and a ballistic repulsion (at departure). Some examples have been computed to validate this approach for the design of transfer trajectories among the inner planets.