Low-Energy Round-Trip Transfer Orbit of DRO–NEA

This study focuses on the low-energy transfer orbit for a probe flying over a near-Earth asteroid from a service station on DRO (Distant Retrograde Orbit) and then returning to the service station in the restricted Sun-Earth-Moon four-body problem. This low-energy transfer orbits are designed by using the solar and lunar gravity, which is found by the method of database creating and trajectory patching. Finally, a feasible solution with ΔV (fuel consumption) less than 1 km/s is obtained. Based on the feasible solutions, it is found that probe can fly over a near-Earth asteroids from a DRO with low-energy cost by using the powered lunar flybys and WSB ballistic transfer, which envisions future near-Earth asteroids exploration missions.