- Experts from Nasa’s Johnson Space Center, Texas A&M University, and Purdue University have established a flight manual and rules of the road to manage growing space traffic around the Moon.
- The research aims to support upcoming lunar operations, including Nasa’s planned Gateway spaceport, which will act as a hub for regular takeoffs, landings, and deep-space exploration.
- Traffic control around the Moon will utilise a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit, an egg-shaped trajectory influenced by both Earth and lunar gravity that maintains a continuous line of sight for communications.
- Computer simulations revealed that spacecraft can safely loiter in orbit while awaiting permission to land or depart by making minor manoeuvres to compensate for thruster and navigation errors.
- The findings, which offer a framework for safe cislunar navigation, will be published in the journal Acta Astronautica under the title Cislunar traffic management: Orbit maintenance and loitering in the Gateway NRHO.
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