ROLL RESONANCE FOR A GRAVITY-GRADIENT SATELLITE.
Abstract
Previous studies of gravity-gradient satellite attitude stabilization showed that large roll angles could occur for a partially shadowed orbit. The cause was determined to be a resonance effect due to solar radiation pressure. An expression for the solar torque for roll on a dumbbell-shaped satellite is presented herein. The amplitude of the torque is shown to be a function of the angle between the satellite-sun line and the normal to the orbit plane. For circular orbits, an expression is derived to determine for what position of the sun relative to the orbit plane the resonance effect is a maximum. For orbits of modest eccentricity, the amount of orbit shadowed as a function of sum-orbit orientation is determined. The persistance of the resonance effect for retrograde orbits is discussed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0669995
Entities
People
- D. K. Anand
- J. M. Whisnant
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory