Mass property control of a spin stabilized spacecraft with restrictive mission and weight constraintsIn the primary experiment of the spin stabilized San Marco D/L spacecraft, the drag effects on a light spherical shell coupled to a relatively massive center body will be measured. To achieve the precise mass property control, the centroids of both the shell and the center body must coincide with each other and with the center of pressure of the shell. Precise spin balancing is needed for launch and orbital stability, and the deployable antennas need accurate alignment. Corrective measures, developed after the preliminary mass measurements showed flaws in the mass property control, are described in detail. Inertia booms and a yo-yo despin system were developed as add-on units, spin balance measurements about all three geometric axes were used to define weight minimized correction within the outer shell envelope, and boom tip mass differentials were optimized for the most favorable inertia ratio margin achievable within the mission weight constraints. The weight versus orbital lifetime trade-offs were also considered.
Document ID
19860050474
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Lang, W. E. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)