Difference between revisions of "Three body patched trajectories"
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Latest revision as of 03:02, 21 January 2009
The most basic orbital mechanics considers the Newtonian interactions between two uniform density bodies traveling though a vacuum under there own inertia. This is known as the two body problem and it is the basis of classical transfer orbits like the hohmann trajectory.
The three body is mathematically more interesting and contains equilibrium points (Lagrange points), and manifolds. The three bodies could be for instance, the sun earth and a space craft or earth moon and a space craft. It turns out that spacecrafts can travel along these manifolds with a minimal expenditure of energy. Some have compared these manifolds to highways and attached the word interplanetary superhighway as the name to the roots that these manifolds create.
