ANALYSIS OF AN ORBITAL 'HARD' RENDEZVOUS CONCEPT.
Abstract
This report is an analysis of a 'hard' rendezvous concept employing a constant tension tetherline retrieval. Hard rendezvous deals with initial relative velocities of 200 to 400 fpc between two vehicles at a 500 mi orbital attitude. The intent of this study is to determine the feasibility of tetherline retrieval without the use of attitude control for the interceptor vehicle. The equations of motion were analytically developed for a reel-out and reel-in scheme. These equations were then solved on a 7090/7094 digital computer. Both coplanar and noncoplanar conditions were studied. The coplanar and noncoplanar reel-out results were essentially the same. Reel-out constant tension runs were made for tensions of 50, 100 and 200 lbs. This resulted in tetherline lengths ranging from 940 to 14,300 ft. Maximum angular velocities of an interceptor mass ranged from 0.0095 to 0.046 RAD/SEC in pitch and from 0.01 to 0.39 in yaw for the noncoplanar runs. Reel-in is more complex and required thrust control to remove momentum from the mass system. Maximum angular velocities were in the same range as reel-out runs with successful reel-in runs only in the coplanar cases. To summarize, reel-out is feasible without the use of thrusting or attitude control. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0483921
Entities
People
- Lawrence L. Midolo
Organizations
- Flight Dynamics Laboratory