Gravitational corridors for space travel

From The Telegraph:

Scientists in the United States are trying to map the twisting ''tubes'' so they can be used to cut the cost of journeys in space.

Each one acts like a gravitational Gulf Stream, created from the complex interplay of attractive forces between planets and moons.

Depicted by computer graphics, the pathways look like strands of spaghetti that wrap around planetary bodies and snake between them.

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The pathways connect sites called Lagrange points where gravitational forces balance out.

Professor Shane Ross, from Virginia Tech in the US, said: ''Basically the idea is there are low energy pathways winding between planets and moons that would slash the amount of fuel needed to explore the solar system.

''These are freefall pathways in space around and between gravitational bodies. Instead of falling down, like you do on Earth, you fall along these tubes.

''Each of the tubes starts off narrow and small and as it gets further out it gets wider and might also split.

More here.