Hill Problem Analytical Theory to the Order Four: Application to the Computation of Frozen Orbits around Planetary Satellites

Frozen orbits of the Hill problem are determined in the double-averaged problem, where short and long-period terms are removed by means of Lie transforms. Due to the perturbation method we use, the initial conditions of corresponding quasi-periodic solutions in the nonaveraged problem are computed straightforwardly. Moreover, the method provides the explicit equations of the transformation that connects the averaged and nonaveraged models. A fourth-order analytical theory is necessary for the accurate computation of quasi-periodic frozen orbits

Mission design through averaging of perturbed Keplerian systems: The paradigm of an Enceladus orbiter

Preliminary mission design for planetary satellite orbiters requires a deep knowledge of the long term dynamics that is typically obtained through averaging techniques. The problem is usually formulated in the Hamiltonian setting as a sum of the principal part, which is given through the Kepler problem, plus a small perturbation that depends on the specific features of the mission. It is usually derived from a scaling procedure of the restricted three body problem, since the two main bodies are the Sun and the planet whereas the satellite is considered as a massless particle. Sometimes, instead of the restricted three body problem, the spatial Hill problem is used. In some cases the validity of the averaging is limited to prohibitively small regions, thus, depriving the analysis of significance. We find this paradigm at Enceladus, where the validity of a first order averaging based on the Hill problem lies inside the body. However, this fact does not invalidate the technique as perturbation methods are used to reach higher orders in the averaging process. Proceeding this way, we average the Hill problem up to the sixth order obtaining valuable information on the dynamics close to Enceladus. The averaging is performed through Lie transformations and two different transformations are applied. Firstly, the mean motion is normalized whereas the goal of the second transformation is to remove the appearance of the argument of the node. The resulting Hamiltonian defines a system of one degree of freedom whose dynamics is analyzed. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V