AN ATTITUDE DETERMINING SYSTEM FOR SPINNING ROCKETS

Abstract

An attitude sensor for spinning rockets and the associated digital computing procedure have been developed and tested. The measuring system consists of a commercially available flux gate magnetometer and a single solar cell with a fan-shaped acceptance beam. The computing procedure is designed to improve approximations of the rocket aspect angles by successive differential corrections which are derived by a least squares treatment of an overdetermined system of condition equations. Both the measuring system and the computing methods have been found to provide a practical approach for determining rocket aspect. The system is estimated to have been accurate to between one and two degrees in its initial test and to have a potential accuracy of better than one degree.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1965
Accession Number
AD0632679

Entities

People

  • Joseph M. Conley
  • R. B. Patton Jr.

Organizations

  • Ballistic Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Ambiguity
  • Atmospheres
  • Computers
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Data Reduction
  • Detectors
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Magnetometers
  • Measurement
  • Noses
  • Orientation (Direction)
  • Scalar Magnetometers
  • Solar Cells
  • Space Systems
  • Time Intervals
  • Trajectories

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerodynamics/Aeronautics.
  • Aerospace Test and Evaluation
  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis