NanoSail - D Orbital and Attitude Dynamics

NanoSail-D unfurled January 20th, 2011 and successfully demonstrated the deployment and deorbit capability of a solar sail in low Earth orbit. The orbit was strongly perturbed by solar radiation pressure, aerodynamic drag, and oblate gravity which were modeled using STK HPOP. A comparison of the ballistic coefficient history to the orbit parameters exhibits a strong relationship between orbital lighting, the decay rate of the mean semi-major axis and mean eccentricity. A similar comparison of mean solar area using the STK HPOP solar radiation pressure model exhibits a strong correlation of solar radiation pressure to mean eccentricity and mean argument of perigee. NanoSail-D was not actively controlled and had no capability on-board for attitude or orbit determination. To estimate attitude dynamics we created a 3-DOF attitude dynamics simulation that incorporated highly realistic estimates of perturbing forces into NanoSail-D torque models. By comparing the results of this simulation to the orbital behavior and ground observations of NanoSail-D, we conclude that there is a coupling between the orbit and attitude dynamics as well as establish approximate limits on the location of the NanoSail-D solar center of pressure. Both of these observations contribute valuable data for future solar sail designs and missions.