ATTITUDE STABILIZATION OF SPACECRAFT WITH GEOMAGNETIC RATE DAMPING.
Abstract
The paper studies two damping systems which can be used as part of the attitude control systems of geomagnetically, gravitationally, or spin-stabilized spacecraft. The devices are active and passive geomagnetic rate dampers that use the relative motion between the spacecraft and an ambient magnetic field to produce the required torques. The expressions for the torques generated by each device are derived. To investigate the usefulness of the dampers, an analytical study is made of the attitude performance of gravitationally stabilized spacecraft. To verify the assumptions that were made to make the dynamical problem analytically tractable, a digital simulation study is presented. Good agreement is obtained. The characteristics and applicability of each type of damper are also discussed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0693031
Entities
People
- V. L. Pisacane
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory