US military intelligence and the problem of three bodies.How to follow objects closer to the moon?[ANALYSIS]

Extensive domain of (hypothetical) space operations

Announcements of the release of the next version of the thematic Dia report (Defense Intelligence Agency), originally published in February 2019 under the title Challenges to Security in Space, appeared on the occasion of this year's Space Symposium conference, organized on August 23-26 in Colorado Springs.The reports of this content were transferred to M.in.Space News service.According to them, the intelligence service subject to the United States Defense Department emphasized the need for fundamental expansion of abilities ensuring situational awareness in space.These, however, apply not so much the orbit belt occupied by utility satellites as the space located far beyond them - by default to the border of the sphere in which the moon moves (including the librant points of the common gravitational system with the ground - called Lagrange points).

The DIA report in its first edition emphasized, above all, the growing challenges related to the confrontational attitude and improving the cosmic abilities of China and Russia.The increasing possibilities of these countries were also indicated in the matter of acquiring information about American activities in space and their tracking.

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Currently, this scope is added - according to the available information - the anticipated consequences of increased exploration of the moon space, which poses new challenges in the context of maintaining the safety of space transport.A kind of connection, there is also a risk of appropriation of sensitive areas of impact in this space by international rivals.

In this matter, in this matter, in the footsteps of other American government centers, which in a similar tone postulate the need to develop new abilities of monitoring the movement of artificial facilities and their activities in the deep of the Earth..It goes.in.for a study published in May this year.by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), titled A Primer on Cisluunar Space.In addition to the closer definition of the dimension itself (the space extending from the furthest usable limit of satellite orbit to the sphere of direct influence of the moon), the report emphasized its growing significance, both in the utility and strategic sense.

Dead space of cosmic reconnaissance

The general message of the report remains, however, addressed primarily to the US Space Force, called to develop solutions allowing the United States and the community of private operators for safe and uninterrupted conducting operations in a deep Earth's space.It was another intended AFRL movement in this direction, after proposing a year earlier the implementation of the experimental project Cislunar Highway Patrol System (CHPS).The mentioned initiative assumes the financing of research and tests of engineering solutions in the area of long -distance space monitoring and artificial facilities - both at the level of sensors and tracking algorithms.As indicated, this task is subject to serious technical challenges.

ChPS is to open the way to fill a serious gap that occurs in the dimension of the ability to detect and track objects between the edge of the geostationary orbit (where most satellites of the US cosmic forces are to be located) and the moon.This only applies partly to the need to develop higher parameters of observation devices (greater preview range) - the basic difficulty here are significant complications related to algorithms to determine the characteristics of objects movement and analysis of orbital dynamics over greater distances from the Earth and under the influence of the moon.It is about deviations from adopted mathematical and physical methods for determining orbital parameters (orbit elements), associated with the Kepler Movement - in a reference system covering two bodies (Earth and an artificial satellite of negligible mass).The case of movement in the shared space with the moon is already a matter excluding the use of the principles of the Kepler movement and the classic understanding of orbit as various variations of the ordered circular movement.This is the moment when we enter the ground of a phenomenon popularly called the problem of three (and more) bodies.

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Mainly for this reason, precise monitoring and tracking of facilities movement anywhere between Earth and the Moon, it has serious difficulties.To deal with this, for the use of Space Domain Aawareness (SDA), Air Force Research Lab, it adopts a simplified scheme of the insulated system of three bodies (Earth-Aldilers-Space Status), with perfectly wheeled tracks of movement and a common, constant plane (Circular Rapstricted 3-Body problem- CR3BP).Although this system does not reflect reality, it is to allow the obtaining of mathematical approximations necessary to determine the geometric models of facilities movement."Due to the differences between [two and three -component systems], when tying the trajectory, the best practice is to indicate temporary position vectors and speed in a simplified inertial system, at a certain known moment, giving up the use of orbital parameters" - indicated in the study A Primer onCisluunar Space.

At the same time, the demand for a whole range of new types of space sensors and devices ensuring a reference point for observation was emphasized in this context."There is no one sensor location that could provide a preview of the entire Cisluva space," was indicated in the AFRL report.Answers to this kind of issues are to provide m.in.The results of experiments in the mentioned Cisluunar Highway Patrol System project.However, what is also interesting, AFRL also puts hopes in the NASA Capstone mission starting this year, which is to check the ability to place and stabilize light satellites in the orbit of the perilian orbit.

Searching for anchor points

In the context of the most convenient sensor location, at least a few such - above -ground, in the Earth's space, as well as in the Earth's orbit and surrounded by the natural satellite of the Earth.They all are to be part of a uniform, multi -component system.However, the librant points in the land -accounting system are particularly useful for such purposes for such purposes.AFRL compares their role to the one that geostationary orbit plays in relation to the Earth - giving the specific ability to stabilize space objects in this space.

As for the general public, analytical centers in the USA calling for a shortage of situational awareness over a geostation orbit at the same time emphasize how difficult this task will be.The entire obstacle directory is mentioned - above all, objects located there are simply more difficult to see (higher distances require more advanced videoing capacity).In addition, items in natural movement in orbit slow down as the distance from Earth increases (this is to mean longer time intervals of the necessary analysis aimed at determining traffic parameters).What's more, optical systems have difficulty observations near the moon due to its high albedo coefficient (light reflection).Finally, the apparent sun movement relative to the Earth's system causes that there are cyclical difficulties in observing a part of the perion space.

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It is a separate matter to track already known objects.First of all, the Earth rotates much faster in relation to more distant orbital planes (a single ground observatory can follow the object in a radically shorter time).In turn, even having a network of coupled sensors, it is not to be avoided to develop an asynchronous data collection strategy, complicating the planning of tasks and their implementation.

A handful of observations

All this leads to conclusions about the need to embed the main resources of such a system (long -range situational recognition) in the space itself.Lagrange points are again mentioned again - in the role of stable nodes of anchoring instruments for preview instruments for the land -accounting space (according to AFRL, "they can provide a unique perspective of detection"), and in the future perhaps even around a clergy system of positioning and navigation system.Another indicated group of potentially useful sensors are electro -optical systems on orbits enabling the association of their movement with the synodic period of the moon circulation around the Earth (but they are not easily accessible orbit).

As for the technical classification of such abilities, AFRL emphasizes potentially the highest utility - in addition to classic optical and electro -optical instruments (telescopes and cameras) - also radio transceiver systems (excluding radars, considered not worthy in this role due to high energy demand and effectiveonly over a short distance).

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Finally, the AFRL report also formulates some interesting conclusions from the point of view of orbital mechanics of long -distance space operations.As emphasized, first of all, staying on a distant orbit or the Earth's trajectory requires often repetitive delicate maneuvers.In addition, these small maneuvers in the conditions of weaker earthly gravitational impact and moon influence may cause disproportionately large changes in movement trajectory.

At the same time, the necessary displacement in the space under consideration is carried out in a different way compared to Leo or GEO.Admittedly, some such maneuvers have already been performed in practice on the occasion of various moon missions (direct orbital transfer), unlike these transport methods (with high energy expenditure), for operational activities in the Earth-accounting space, mainly transfers options with low drive transfers are consideredbut the extended period of their performance and repeatability of component maneuvers.

In the end, the thoughts of DIA and AFRL so far relate primarily to the tasks that are expected to be carried out as part of the US Space Force missions and operations.While the USSF has often signaled the recognition of the Earth-accounting space as its operating domain (in previous doctrinal documents), it has not yet been turned into a strictly defined plan and schedule of the implementation of monitoring activities.These, on the other hand, are to be crucial in the context of even the expected first effects of the NASA Artemis moon program as an important operational segment of security for the return of Americans to the moon in the coming years.

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