SATELLITE LIBRATIONS ON AN ELLIPTIC ORBIT

Abstract

The first-order effect of orbital eccentricity on the planar tumbling or oscillatory motion of a dumbbell-shaped satellite is discussed. This has been done by assuming that the angular orientation angle psi can be represented by a power series in eccentricity e, in which the co efficient of the e to the o power term was set equal to the circular solution psi-c available from earlier investigations. The differential equation for the coefficient of the e to the 1 power term is shown to be of an inhomogeneous Mathieu type, the particular solutions of which can be readily obtained if certain weak restrictions are placed on the initial magnitude of the dumbbell's angular velocity. The analysis indicated that the orientation of the satellite in the elliptic orbit can differ substantially from the one determined for the circular orbit. (Author) 8 AD-407 928

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1963
Accession Number
AD0407928

Entities

People

  • H. B. Schechter

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Amplitude
  • Angular Momentum
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Center Of Gravity
  • Circular Orbits
  • Coefficients
  • Differential Equations
  • Equations
  • Government Procurement
  • Orbits
  • Orientation (Direction)
  • Power Series
  • Resonant Frequency
  • Satellite Orbits
  • Space Stations
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Mathematics
  • Physics

Readers

  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris