Aeronautics and astronautics – Spacecraft – Spacecraft formation – orbit – or interplanetary path
Patent
1985-05-17
1987-04-14
Barefoot, Galen
Aeronautics and astronautics
Spacecraft
Spacecraft formation, orbit, or interplanetary path
244165, B64G 110
Patent
active
046572104
ABSTRACT:
An improved system and method for ejecting and stabilizing a satellite/perigee stage assembly from a shuttle or orbiter type craft in space where the satellite includes gyros aligned parallel to three orthogonal axes, a computer, and spin and attitude control thrusters is described. The method comprises the steps of orienting the shuttle such that the perigee motor is pointing in the desired firing attitude, initializing said gyros and initializing the attitude determination algorithm in the spacecraft's computer, ejecting the spacecraft/perigee stage assembly without spin, after ejecting, slowly spinning the assembly about a desired spin axis, damping the assembly's nutation and precessing the assembly to the initial attitude while slowly spinning, and when at the initial attitude, spinning up the assembly for perigee motor firing.
REFERENCES:
patent: T100604 (1981-05-01), Crill et al.
patent: 4306692 (1981-12-01), Kaplan
Astronautics and Aeronautics, Jun. 1972, pp. 31-40.
Rosen et al "An STS Optimized Spin Stabilized Satellite Concept", 25-5A-EASCON 77, Sep. 26-28, 1977, 5 pages.
Furia Thomas J.
Hubert Carl H.
Miller Paul A.
Muhlfelder Ludwig
Schmidt, Jr. George E.
Barefoot Galen
RCA Corporation
Tripoli Joseph S.
Troike Robert L.
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