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The Lunar PolesitterHere-to-fore, sailcraft mission and system studies have focused on sailcraft applications in support of NASA's science missions and, in a few studies, on the needs of other federal agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Department of Defense (DoD). These studies have identified numerous promising applications for solar sails, leading NASA to support proposal efforts for three NASA New Millennium Program (NMP) flight demonstration opportunities (the Space Technology-5, -7, and -9 opportunities) as well as an extensive three-year ground development program in FY 2003-2005 sponsored by the NASA In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) Program. What has not been done to date, however, is to investigate how the technology might also benefit the nation's (and NASA's) emerging interest in the Human Exploration Initiative (HEI). This paper reports on the first effort to address this shortfall in mission applications studies in support of HEI: the use of solar-sail-propelled Lunar Polesitter spacecraft which make use of the natural properties of the Earth-Moon L2 point and solar sail propulsion to enable their positioning near the Lunar poles to serve as communications relay stations. Suitably positioned, such spacecraft enable continuous communications to and from the Earth from any point on the lunar far side. The paper shows that a viable sailcraft system design exists permitting station-keeping of a Lunar Polesitter relay station at 40 Lunar radii from the Moon in the anti-Earth direction, displaced 6-8 Lunar radii below the Earth- Moon plane.
Document ID
20150014779
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
West, John L.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 3, 2015
Publication Date
August 18, 2008
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Report/Patent Number
AIAA Paper 7073
Meeting Information
Meeting: AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference
Location: Honolulu, HI
Country: United States
Start Date: August 18, 2008
End Date: August 21, 2008
Sponsors: American Astronautical Society, American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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