Dynamical Structures Nearby NRHOs with Applications to Transfer Design in Cislunar Space

The development of a methodology to move through cislunar space along fundamental dynamical pathways is relevant to NASA’s goals for a cislunar transportation network. To enable an informed design approach for transfer trajectories departing from or arriving at a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO), higher-period orbits that bifurcate from the NRHO region of the L 2 halo orbit family are combined with other known structures, such as other Lagrange point and resonant orbits, in the Earth-Moon neighborhood. As a result of this design strategy, novel impulsive transfer options between NRHOs and distant retrograde orbits that possess predictable geometries are constructed. A strategy to enforce eclipse-free transfers using a path constraint is developed and verified in a higher-fidelity ephemeris model.