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Low lunar orbit (LLO) is an orbit below 100 km (62 mi) altitude. These have a period of about 2 hours. [ 2 ] They are of particular interest in the exploration of the Moon , but suffer from gravitational perturbations that make most unstable, and leave only a few orbital trajectories possible for indefinite frozen orbits .
The lunar orbit's major axis – the longest diameter of the orbit, joining its nearest and farthest points, the perigee and apogee, respectively – makes one complete revolution every 8.85 Earth years, or 3,232.6054 days, as it rotates slowly in the same direction as the Moon itself (direct motion) – meaning precesses eastward by 360°.
Low-energy transfers to the Moon were first demonstrated in 1991 by the Japanese spacecraft Hiten, which was designed to swing by the Moon but not to enter orbit.The Hagoromo subsatellite was released by Hiten on its first swing-by and may have successfully entered lunar orbit, but suffered a communications failure.
On Artemis missions, a trip to the Moon (scheduled for 2025) and eventually Mars will require a stopover at the Lunar Gateway, a space station that will support a sustainable human presence on the ...
India’s historic Chandrayaan-3 mission to the lunar South pole has sent back first images of the Moon ahead of its anticipated landing later this month.. On Saturday, the spacecraft carrying the ...
Stability means that satellites in DRO do not need to use station keeping propellant to stay in orbit. The lunar DRO is a high lunar orbit with a radius of approximately 61,500 km. [24] This was proposed [by whom?] in 2017 as a possible orbit for the Lunar Gateway space station, outside Earth-Moon L1 and L2. [20]
From uncrewed lunar missions to the launch of the first private space station, ... World's first commercial space station to reach orbit. An artist's concept shows Haven-1, the first commercial ...
The semi-major axis of the geocentric lunar orbit, called the lunar distance, is approximately 400,000 km (250,000 miles or 1.28 light-seconds), comparable to going around Earth 9.5 times. [178] The Moon makes a complete orbit around Earth with respect to the fixed stars, its sidereal period, about once every 27.3 days.