Apollo 11 Free Return Trajectory
Simulates Apollo 11’s free-return translunar trajectory: Earth, Moon, and spacecraft on the figure-eight path that would swing the crew home without a major burn.
Scenarios
Spaceflight
Historic spacecraft trajectories under real gravity: Apollo 11’s free-return figure-eight, Hohmann transfers to Mars and Venus, New Horizons’ Jupiter-to-Pluto cruise, Ulysses’ polar Jupiter flyby, and TESS in its resonant high-Earth orbit.
Earth–Mars Hohmann Transfer
Simulates a minimum-delta-v Hohmann transfer from Earth to Mars: a half-ellipse coast of about 241 days, tangent to both planetary orbits.
New Horizons: Jupiter to Pluto
Simulates New Horizons from January 2006 launch through the 2007 Jupiter gravity assist and on to the 2015 Pluto flyby, with the planets on JPL Horizons states.
TESS: Earth–Moon Orbit
Simulates TESS in its 13.7-day high-Earth ellipse in 2:1 resonance with the Moon — perigee 108,000 km, apogee 376,000 km — above the Van Allen belts.
Ulysses: Jupiter Polar Orbit
Simulates Ulysses from Earth to Jupiter, then the gravity assist that cranked the spacecraft into a 76° solar polar orbit over the Sun’s poles.
Venus Express: Earth to Venus
Simulates Venus Express on its 2005 sunward transfer: Earth departure on an inward Hohmann-style arc to Venus intercept after about 128 days of coast.