STABILITY AND DEPLOYMENT ANALYSIS OF A TETHERED ORBITING INTERFEROMETER SATELLITE SYSTEM.
Abstract
A preliminary analysis is given for small amplitude libration and deployment dynamics of a tethered orbiting interferometer (TOI) consisting of two tether-connected satellites comprising a single gravitationally stabilized system. The Lagrangian equations for small amplitude motion in the orbital plane are derived and include the inertias of the receiver satellites, the extensibility of a massless tether, and different methods of energy dissipation. The damping system design is optimized by a numerical search for those parameters that minimize the time constant of the least damped normal mode. The Newtonian equations of deployment motion are derived and used to consider the effects of tether mass and point mass receivers; they are numerically integrated backwards from vertical alignment to deployment initiation. Tether tension can be adjusted to obtain desired values of design parameters. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0690476
Entities
People
- Peter M. Bainum
- Richard E. Harkness
- Willem Stuiver
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory