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Effect of attitude constraints on solar-electric geocentric transfersThe present work assesses the increase in flight time and fuel consumption due to introducing attitude constraints on both the thrust vector and the plane of the solar cell arrays on geocentrically orbiting spacecraft. A modified version of the SECKSPOT computer program calculates nearly time-optimal trajectories for the constrained case of zero pitch and roll. Unconstrained cases are generated with the SECKSPOT code. It is concluded that with a pitch constraint but without a roll constraint, power would not be a function of thrust direction, and so the time-optimal thruster direction would be along the projection of the primer vector in the plane normal to the radius vector. The roll constraint would cause power to become a function of thrust angle and sun angle. For certain sun angles the locus of the ratio of power to maximum power is concave and thus there may be jumps in the control angle. Comparisons are made for a SERT-C type mission between constrained and unconstrained cases in an inverse square gravity field.
Document ID
19750040885
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Sackett, L. L.
Edelbaum, T. N.
(Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. Cambridge, Mass., United States)
Date Acquired
August 8, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1975
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
AIAA PAPER 75-350
Meeting Information
Meeting: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Electric Propulsion Conference
Location: New Orleans, LA
Start Date: March 19, 1975
End Date: March 21, 1975
Sponsors: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Accession Number
75A24957
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS3-18886
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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