Analytic investigation of the AEM-A/HCMM attitude control system performance

The Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM), scheduled for launch in 1978, will be three-axis stabilized relative to the earth in a 600-kilometer altitude, polar orbit. The autonomous attitude control system consists of three torquing coils and a momentum wheel driven in response to error signals computed from data received from an infrared horizon sensor and a magnetometer. This paper presents a simple model of the attitude dynamics and derives the equations that determine the stability of the system during both attitude acquisition (acquisition-mode) and mission operations (mission-mode). Modifications to the proposed mission-mode control laws which speed the system's response to transient attitude errors and reduce the steady-state attitude errors are suggested. Numerical simulations are performed to validate the results obtained with the simple model.