Regular Moon Shuttle: Spacecraft's Vital Role in Astronaut Transportation and Supply Delivery
A team of U.S./UK researchers has released a research paper on the optimum trajectories for traveling between Earth and the Moon, focusing on a shuttle that could transport supplies to a lunar outpost and carry back resources extracted from the surface. They propose a circular, elliptical orbit with a perigee near Earth and an apogee beyond the Moon, which would minimize fuel consumption and allow for efficient cargo transportation. This type of shuttle and trajectory is crucial for establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon and could also support a thriving Earth-Moon economy, including resource extraction and the potential use of helium-3 for fusion reactors.