Optimization-Aided, Low-Energy Transfers via Vertical Instability Around Earth-Moon L1

A study proposes the combined use of the vertical instability and optimization techniques to compute low-energy transfers changing the inclination and the out-of-plane amplitude substantially around L1in the Earth–moon CR3BP. The method consists of three stages of optimizations. The first stage computes initial guesses for manifold-guided transfers by maximizing the inclination while avoiding escapes from the vicinity of L1 against the strong horizontal instability. The CR3BP describes the motion of a massless particle P3, under the gravitational influences of two massive bodies, P1 and P2 of masses m1 and m2 (m1 > m2), respectively. The model assumes that P1 and P2 revolve in circular orbits around their barycenter.