Minimizing the Effects of Transverse Torques During Thrusting for Spin-Stabilized Spacecraft
2002
During an orbital maneuver of a spin-stabilized spacecraft, undesired transverse torques are present due to thruster misalignment and offset from the center of mass. These body- xed torques cause the thrust vector to precess about a direction that is offset from the nominal. This oscillation of the thrust vector over the course of the maneuver decreases the nal magnitude of the D V while the average offset causes a pointing error. Previous work shows that inserting a short-coast phase into the maneuver can eliminate the pointing error. The behavior of the thrust axis is considered to nd solutions for the coast phase timing that minimize the average oscillation of the thrust axis to maximize D V, while retaining the property of eliminating the secular pointing error. The new maneuver scheme realizes a signi cant increase in ef ciency over the previous solution, particularly if the oscillation of the thrust axis is large.
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