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Would the optimal time to launch be when the Moon was on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun? What direction would be optimal leaving EM-L2, radially away from the moon?

Is the last line of this table a reasonable approximation of the delta-v required? enter image description here

If the launch used the minimal delta-v, and took place in the middle of Moon's umbra, how long would it take to emerge into the sunlight?

Bob516
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    This is a great question! There are many Q&A here for how to calculate or estimate delta-v's for more classical transfer schemes based on a sequence of ellipses, and for low-thrust spirals from circular orbit to infinity (and beyond!) but I don't think we have self-contained answers within the site that explain how to address this kind of problem (libration-point start, end, or both) mathematically, without pointing off-site for the calculation itself. – uhoh Apr 16 '19 at 03:14
  • @uhoh Do you know if those off-site options would be highly technical, or accessible to those with a few intro level undergraduate physics classes? Do you know of any specific sites? – Bob516 Apr 17 '19 at 12:51
  • I don't know what "those off-site options" means. All I know is Stack Exchange. You can ask more questions here or ask something open-ended in the Pod Bay to get several people's opinions. – uhoh Apr 17 '19 at 14:45
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    @uhoh You said, "without pointing off-site for the calculations." I assumed you meant websites off of Stack Exchange. No matter. I didn't know about Pod Bay, I will check it out. Thanks. – Bob516 Apr 17 '19 at 14:50
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    Oh, some users here answer questions with "the answer is in post x on my blog, where I have an excel file..." I meant that It would be great someone would answer with a real, proper Stack Exchange answer within this site. There is one blog though that may be of particular interest to you http://hopsblog-hop.blogspot.com/ the author is also a user here. @HopDavid. You can search the blog for key words, and search @HopDavid's questions and answers. – uhoh Apr 17 '19 at 15:01
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    I just ran across an example of an "off-site answer" https://space.stackexchange.com/a/5316/12102 It's a perfectly fine answer, but you need to go off site and then run a spreadsheet in your computer to get the goodies. – uhoh Apr 18 '19 at 00:40
  • @uhoh Of what should I run a spreadsheet? I'm missing what you are referring to on that link. – Bob516 Apr 19 '19 at 00:10
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    no, you don't need to run anything. I was just showing that as an example of what I meant by an "off-site answer". It's not an answer to your main question, it just addresses the question you asked in this comment, nothing more. – uhoh Apr 19 '19 at 00:20
  • Let me try my KSP-based hunch on how to achieve that transfer best. A prograde burn at the 'night side' of Earth, pulling the craft out of EM-L2, and bringing into an elliptical Earth orbit with apoapsis at SE-L1. Then a retrograde burn at SE-L1 to just stop there and remove the arrival speed. Pretty much like a Hohmann transfer except departure takes less fuel as you tumble out of L2 gravity peak, and arrival braking instead of speeding up. – SF. Apr 19 '19 at 15:38

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