Low energy transfers

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Low energy transfers, or low energy trajectories, are routes in space which allow spacecraft to change orbits using very little fuel. These routes work in other systems, such as traveling between the satellites of Jupiter. The drawback of such trajectories is that they take longer.

Low energy transfers to the Moon were first demonstrated in 1991 by the Japanese spacecraft Hiten. This was a result of a mission rescue by Edward Belbruno and James Miller. The transfer used by Hiten is a revolutionary new type of low energy transfer to the Moon derived from Weak Stability Boundary Theory. See Capture Dynamics and Chaotic Motions in Celestial Mechanics. Unlike the standard three day route to the Moon, called a Hohmann Transfer, this low energy route does not require rocket engines to slow down to be captured into lunar orbit. It also take three months instead of three days.

Low energy transfers follow special pathways in space which look like tubes. These are sometimes referred to as the Interplanetary Transport Network. Other missions that have used low energy transfers are SMART-1, of the European Space Agency, and Genesis, of NASA.