A three-mass tethered system for micro-g/variable-g applications

Abstract

This paper describes a Space-Station attached tethered system for micro-g/variable-g applications. The system consists of three platforms: the Space Station, an end mass anchored at the end of a 10 km long kevlar tether and a micro-g/variable-g laboratory with the capability of crawling along the tether. Control strategies are devised for performing both the deployment and the station-keeping maneuvers of the system. Effective algorithms are identified for damping out the major vibrational modes.