Coupled Dynamics in the Cislunar Region and Spacecraft Attitude Prediction in a Higher-Fidelity Model

The cislunar region of space is a complex, multi-body dynamical environment that cannot be modeled trivially. Traditional point-mass assumptions made to simplify the mission design process may be insufficient for accurately predicting spacecraft motion in environments where orbit-attitude coupling is non-negligible. One of the most famous of such models is the circular restricted three-body problem. This thesis advances the state of the art in astrodynamics by modeling all bodies in the problem as rigid bodies, allowing for spacecraft orientation to be propagated and considered. Two models are under consideration—the circular restricted full three-body problem (CRF3BP) and a full higher-fidelity ephemeris model that includes perturbations from the sun’s gravity and the eccentricity of the moon’s orbit. The CRF3BP is leveraged as a tool for predicting spacecraft attitude motion in the full ephemeris model using rotation matrices. Extensive numerical simulations are performed for planar and nonplanar trajectories, for spacecraft of varying sizes and symmetries, for multiple revolutions or single orbital periods, for non-periodic trajectories, and for multiple starting epochs of the full ephemeris simulation. Analysis of these results is intended to help determine when the CRF3BP is most useful to advance cislunar mission planning of the future.