Lagrange Points and the James Webb Space Telescope

Abstract

This article guides the reader through Lagrange’s famous solution to the so-called “three-body problem” and shows its application to the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope. Lagrange’s original equations are presented in his original notation, supplemented by modern vector computations. The entire work is accomplished with mathematics typically taught at the college freshman and sophomore levels.

MSC:

• 01A50
• 70F07

Acknowledgment

The author wishes to thank J. R. Stockton, who made this article possible by providing a translation of Lagrange’s work.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Donald Teets

Donald Teets received his Doctor of Arts (D.A.) in mathematics from Idaho State University in 1988, and has taught at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology since then. He received the Carl B. Allendoerfer writing award from the MAA in 2000 for an article on the astronomical work of Gauss, and the Burton W. Jones Distinguished Teaching award from the Rocky Mountain Section of the MAA in 2004.