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Dynamics of Drag Free Formations in Earth OrbitIn this paper the translational equations of motion of a formation of n spacecraft in Earth orbit, n(sub f) of which are drag-free spacecraft, are derived in a coordinate-free manner using the balance of linear momentum and direct tensor notation. A drag-free spacecraft consists of a spacecraft bus and a proof mass shielded from external disturbances in an internal cavity. By controlling the spacecraft so that the proof mass remains centered in the cavity, the spacecraft follows a purely gravitational orbit. The results described in this paper provide a first step toward coupling drag-free control technology with formation flying in order to mitigate the effect of differential aerodynamic drag on formation flying missions (e.g., Earth imaging applications) in low Earth orbit.
Document ID
20070036012
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Ploen, Scott R.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Scharf, Daniel P.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Hadaegh, Fred. Y.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Acikmese, A. Behcet
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
November 8, 2004
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Meeting Information
Meeting: SPIE 4th International Asia-Pacific Environmental Remote Sensing Symposium
Location: Honolulu, HI
Country: United States
Start Date: November 8, 2004
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
drag-free technology
formation flying

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