The 3-Body Problem, Transport, and Space Mission Design

Jerrold Marsden, Control and Dynamical Systems, California Institute of Technology

The classical three body problem of celestial mechanics is receiving renewed interest as exciting applications to transport rates in the solar system and the design of space missions are made. Transport mechanisms are understood using both transition state theory from Chemistry as well as lobe dynamics from dynamical systems. New computational tools from fluid mixing problems are proving very effective in the celestial realm. Techniques from the three body problem will also be used to design a multi-moon orbiter, yielding a tour of the moons of Jupiter.