Long term capture of asteroids for resources and scientific exploitation using hyperbolic objects in the solar system

Abstract

Copyright © 2015 by the American Institute Federation of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Inc. All rights reserved.Near-Earth Objects are strategic assets to scientific exploration and a possible source of raw materials for future space endeavours. Also they may represent the closest threats to Earth. The growing awarness about the importance of such objects has boosted the interest in sample return missions, mitigation and deflection technologies and in the possibility of capturing and relocating Near-Earth asteroids to allow for scientific investigations of the formation of the Solar System and resource utilization purposes. In this paper, we explore the invariant structures which account for long term confinement in the Earth-Moon system in order to establish how long term capture can be achieved and maintained under the dynamics of the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem.