ИСТИНА

We consider dynamics of a tethered system moving in gravitational field of two primaries, e.g., the Earth and the Moon, or a planet and its satellite, or a double asteroid system. We assume that the moon keeps its orientation with respect to the planet and the spacecraft is anchored to the moon surface via a light tether. The equations of motion are deduced in the framework of a restricted circular three-body problem. The system possesses several relative equilibrium configurations; the locations of these equilibria depend on system parameters, such as the radius of the moon surface and the coordinates of the anchor point of the tether. Stability of the described equilibrium configurations is studied using Routh’s criterion.