Orbital Motion of a Freely Coning Solar Sail.

Abstract

This paper addresses orbital perturbations in the two-body problem of an earth-orbiting solar sail undergoing free coning motion in a circular orbit. The coning motion controls both the magnitude and direction of the solar radiation pressure force. The equations of motion are expanded from the Language planetary equations in their acceleration component form and are solved assuming small changes in the orbital elements over the period of one orbit. Resonances are observed between the mean motion of the sail and its precession rate. The one-to-one resonance case is examined and numerical methods are employed to verify the analytic results for the circular orbit case. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA136794

Entities

People

  • K. L. Jenkins

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Angular Momentum
  • Circular Orbits
  • Classification
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Equations Of Motion
  • Orbital Elements
  • Orbits
  • Precession
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Radiation
  • Radiation Pressure
  • Solar Radiation
  • Solar Sails
  • Spacecraft
  • Two Dimensional

Readers

  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris
  • Space - Spacecraft Maneuvers