When scheduling EME contacts, which of these conditions will generally result in the least path loss?

الشرح

Loss on an Earth-Moon-Earth circuit rises with the fourth power of the lunar distance, because the signal spreads on the way out and again on the way back, so the shortest distance — perigee — gives the least loss, about 2.3 dB better than apogee. Illumination does not change the distance, and the MUF concerns ionospheric refraction rather than a path that must pass through the ionosphere and out into space.