PDA

View Full Version : Accepted (precise!) value for lunar L2 point?


Muon Cat
Jan1-11, 02:30 PM
Does anyone know where I can find one? I've written a program to test the stability of the lunar L2 point by placing a massless test object in orbit there and I've found an optimised value based on the approximation

r_{m}(\frac{M_{M}}{3M_{E}})^{1/3}

where r_{m} is the radius of the moon's orbit, M_{M} is the mass of the moon and M_{E} is the mass of the Earth. I need an accepted value to compare my precise, optimised L2 value to, but I haven't been able to find one anywhere. Can anyone help me out please?

tony873004
Jan2-11, 06:55 PM
Here's a calculator I made: http://orbitsimulator.com/formulas/LagrangePointFinder.html
It finds the L points numerically. But don't expect it to be stable. Only L4 and L5 are stable. L2 requires stationkeeping.

D H
Jan2-11, 07:10 PM
And it moves around. The Moon's orbit is not circular, and the Sun is a huge perturbing factor.

Muon Cat
Jan3-11, 04:11 AM
Ah okay, thank you very much guys! :) I was hoping for a literature value I could compare to because I have to write a report on this, but that is helpful all the same.