Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Radiation Pressure”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Radiation Pressure Forces, the Anomalous Acceleration, and Center of Mass Motion for the TOPEX/POSEIDON Spacecraft

Shortly after launch of the TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) spacecraft (s/c), the Precision Orbit Determination (POD) Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas, discovered residual along-track accelerations, which were unexpected. Here, we describe the analysis of radiation pressure forces acting on the T/P s/c for the purpose of understanding and providing an explanation for the anomalous accelerations. The radiation forces acting on the T/P solar army, which experiences warping due to temperature gradients between the front and back surfaces, are analyzed and the resulting along-track accelerations are determined. Characteristics similar to those of the anomalous acceleration are seen. This analysis led to the development of a new radiation form model, which includes solar array warping and a solar array deployment deflection of as large as 2 deg. As a result of this new model estimates of the empirical along-track acceleration are reduced in magnitude when compared to the GSFC tuned macromodel and are less dependent upon beta(prime), the location of the Sun relative to the orbit plane. If these results we believed to reflect the actual orientation of the T/P solar array then motion of the solar array must influence the location of the s/c center of mass. Preliminary estimates indicate that the center of mass can vary by as much as 3 cm in the radial component of the s/c's position due to rotation of the deflected, warped solar array panel .The altimeter measurements rely upon accurate knowledge of the center of mass location relative to the s/c frame of reference. Any radial motion of the center of mass directly affects the altimeter measurements.

Kubitschek, Daniel G.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Venus exospheric structure - The role of solar radiation pressure

The existence of a 'hot' population of hydrogen atoms in the Venus exosphere is well known. In the outer coronal region where it is dominant, r greater than about 2.0 R(V) (Venus radii), hydrogen atoms are also subject to a relatively strong radiation pressure exerted by resonant scattering of solar Lyman-alpha photons. Collisionless models illustrating the consequent structure are discussed, with the nonthermal population mimicked by a dual Maxwellian exobase kinetic distribution. In these models, a considerable fraction of the 'hot' atoms outside 2.0 R(V) belongs to the quasi-satellite component, this fraction exceeding 1/2 for r values between about 4.0 and 10.0 R(V). Solar ionization of bound atoms occurs mainly outside the ionopause, yielding a partial escape flux greater than about 2,000,000/sq cm per sec over the dayside exobase for assumed solar conditions. The inclusion of a cold exobase prescribed by Pioneer Venus observations has little influence on the outer region (in particular, the quasi-satellite component is unaltered) except that the transition to 'hot' kinetic character occurs closer to the exobase on the nightside due to the colder main exobase temperatures there.

Bishop, James↗
NASA NTRS2007

Solar Radiation Pressure Estimation and Analysis of a GEO Class of High Area-to-Mass Ratio Debris Objects

A population of deep space objects is thought to be high area-to-mass ratio (AMR) debris having origins from sources in the geosynchronous orbit (GEO) belt. The typical AMR values have been observed to range anywhere from 1's to 10's of m(sup 2)/kg, and hence, higher than average solar radiation pressure effects result in long-term migration of eccentricity (0.1-0.6) and inclination over time. However, the nature of the debris orientation-dependent dynamics also results time-varying solar radiation forces about the average which complicate the short-term orbit determination processing. The orbit determination results are presented for several of these debris objects, and highlight their unique and varied dynamic attributes. Estimation or the solar pressure dynamics over time scales suitable for resolving the shorter term dynamics improves the orbit estimation, and hence, the orbit predictions needed to conduct follow-up observations.

Kelecy, Tom↗
NASA NTRS1989

Radiation pressure dynamics in planetary exospheres - A 'natural' framework

Exospheric theory is reformulated to provide for the analysis of dynamical underpinning of exospheric features. The formulation is based on the parabolic-cylindrical separability of the Hamiltonian that describes particle motions in the combined fields of planetary gravity and solar radiation pressure. An approximate solution for trajectory evolution in terms of orbital elements is derived and the role of the exopause in the tail phenomenon is discussed. Also, an expression is obtained for the bound constituent atom densities at outer planetocoronal positions along the planet-sun axis for the case of an evaporative, uniform exobase. This expression is used to estimate midnight density enhancements as a function of radial distance for the terrestrial planets.

Bishop, James↗
NASA NTRS2018

Orbital Maintenance for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope: Effects of Solar Radiation Pressure and Navigation Accuracies on Station Keeping.

The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is a NASA observatorydesigned to answer questions about dark energy and astrophysics, planned for alaunch in 2025 to orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 (SEL2) Libration Point. Due tothe instability of the SEL2 vicinity, WFIRST must perform station keeping maneuversto remain in orbit. This paper reviews different navigation solutions and SRP modelingtechniques that are being considered when planning these maneuvers. In this paper,we will describe station keeping strategy, we will explore the possibility of using an on-boardnavigation system and finally study how Solar Radiation Pressure (SRP) affectsits orbital motion and controllability.

Solar↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Investigating Solar Radiation Pressure Modeling for Operations in Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit

NASA’s Gateway program will build a crew-tended station in an Earth-Moon Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). Deep space operations differ considerably from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) operations in the environmental modeling, orbit geometry, and propagation timespans in operations. The cislunar environment, as opposed to the LEO environment, lacks atmospheric drag and is simultaneously affected by the gravity of both the Earth and the Moon, and solar radiation pressure (SRP) has a significant effect. This paper investigates the impacts of various SRP models on prediction accuracy, attitude control accuracy, orbit determination performance, and computational burden.

Guidance↗
NASA NTRS2018

Orbital Maintenance for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope: The Effects of Solar Radiation Pressure and Navigation Accuracies on Station Keeping

The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), a NASA observatory designed to investigate dark energy and astrophysics, is planned for a launch in 2025 to orbit the Sun-Earth L2 (SEL2) Libration Point. Due to the instability of the SEL2 environment, WFIRST must perform maneuvers to remain in its mission orbit. This paper investigates how different error sources affect the resulting stationkeeping delta v for WFIRST. We study how Solar Radiation Pressure (SRP) modeling affects WFIRST's orbital motion and stability, and how SRP combined with Orbit Determination (OD) errors drive the stationkeeping maneuver magnitudes. Our goal is to determine the best way to model WFIRST's SRP so that we minimize its impact on total stationkeeping delta v required over the mission lifetime.

Radiation↗
NASA NTRS1975

Station coordinates in the standard earth 3 system and radiation-pressure perturbations from ISAGEX camera data

Simultaneous and individual camera observations of GEOS 1, GEOS 2, Pageos, and Midas 4 obtained during the International Satellite Geodesy Experiment are utilized to determine station coordinates. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Standard Earth III system of coordinates is used to tie the geometrical network to a geocentric system and as a reference for calculating satellite orbits. A solution for coordinates combining geometrical and dynamical methods is obtained, and a comparison between the solutions and terrestrial data is made. The radiation-pressure and earth-albedo perturbations for Pageos are very large, and Pageos' orbits are used to evaluate the analytical treatment of these perturbations. Residual effects, which are probably of interest to aeronomists, remain in the Pageos orbits.

Gaposchkin, E. M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Solar radiation pressure effects on the Helios spacecraft

A mathematical model of the solar radiation force and torques, developed for the Mariner 10 Venus/Mercury spacecraft mission, was used for a detailed analysis of the effects of solar light pressure on the Helios spacecraft. Due to the fact that the main body of the Helios spacecraft is a surface of enclosure, inside of which most of the reradiated thermal energy is lost, expressions for the portion of the solar radiation force, produced by the thermal reradiation, had to be given a different form. Hence the need for the derivation of a somewhat different theoretical model for the force acting on the main body of the spacecraft.

Georgevic, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Cosmic instability from radiation pressure

The Cosmic Background Explorer has recently confirmed the blackbody character of the microwave background to high accuracy (Mather et al., 1990), and will have the capability to detect other cosmic backgrounds throughout the infrared. A detection of cosmic background radiation dating from the pregalactic era would have important consequences for theories of cosmic structure. During the creation of such a background the pressure of the radiation itself causes an instability which leads inevitably to the growth of large-scale structure in the matter distribution. In contrast to conventional gravitational-instability models, the statistical properties of this structure are determined primarily by the self-organizing dynamics of the instability rather than details of cosmological initial conditions. The behavior of the instability is described here.

Hogan, Craig J.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Acceleration of heavy ions by radiation pressure.

The possible acceleration of heavy ions by the resonance scattering of radiation near bright stellar objects is examined. Planck spectra are assumed. At any radiation temperature, heavy-ion energies are found to be limited by aberration and Doppler effects. Photoionization is found to limit maximum radiation temperatures and energies for each ion. Collisional ionization by ambient electrons and ions may further limit heavy-ion energies. Because of these limitations, the production of the more energetic cosmic rays by this mechanism appears to be very improbable. If supernova radiation temperatures are high enough, they may produce heavy ions with energies up to several hundreds of MeV per nucleon. O and B stars appear to be able to accelerate certain heavy ions to 200 and 80 MeV per nucleon, respectively.

Nakada, M. P.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Radiation pressure and Poynting-Robertson drag for small spherical particles

Robertson's expression for the velocity-dependent effect of solar radiation on the motion of small particles is difficult because of its dependence on relativistic considerations, and it is also deficient in that it assumes perfectly absorbing particles. The present paper gives a heuristic derivation of the Poynting-Robertson effect. Robertson's expression for perfectly absorbing particles is obtained but on a much simpler physical basis, and an expression is also obtained for a particle that in general scatters, transmits, and absorbs light. Some numerical results on the solar radiation forces felt by small particles of cosmochemically important compositions are given.

Soter, S.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Contact conductance evaluation for a full scale space erectable radiator pressurized interface

The baseline thermal control configuration for the Space Station Freedom includes a contact heat exchanger to provide efficient heat transfer between the two-phase thermal bus heat collection/delivery system and the radiator panel heat rejection system. The contact heat exchanger provides a dry interface for a modular radiator system with easy on-orbit panel replacement. July 1988 testing of the Space Erectable Radiator System (SERS) at NASA-JSC provided thermal/vacuum data for three full-scale prototype units of a pressurized dry contact heat exchanger design. Derived contact conductance values agreed with predictions and previous element tests and demonstrated high conductance for relatively low pressure levels. A limited amount of data was also obtained below the operating pressure, resulting in contact conductance trends with respect to interface pressure.

Duschatko, R. John↗
NASA NTRS1990

A general model of the planetary radiation pressure on a satellite with a complex shape

The purpose of this paper is to present a general model for the acceleration exerted on a spacecraft by the radiation coming from a planet. Both the solar radiation reflected by the planet and the thermal emission associated with its temperature are considered. The planet albedo and the planet emissive power are expanded in spherical harmonics with respect to an equatorial reference frame attached to the planet. The satellite external surface is assumed to consist of a juxtaposition of planar surfaces. A particular choice of variables allows to reduce the surface integrals over the lit portion of the planet visible to the satellite to one-dimension integrals.

Borderies, Nicole↗
NASA NTRS1992

Radiation pressure: A possible cause for the superrotation of the Venusian atmosphere

The superrotation of the venusian atmosphere relative to the planet's surface has long been known. Yet the process by which this vigorous circulation is maintained is poorly understood. The purpose of this report is to show that a mechanism by which the solar radiation interacts with the cloudy atmosphere of Venus could be the principle cause of the superrotation. It has been long known that Venus has a high albedo due to the scattering (similar to the reflection process) of solar radiation by the cloud droplets in its atmosphere. The radiation not scattered, but intercepted by the planet and its atmosphere, is mainly absorbed within the cloud layers. Therefore, momentum (equal, more or less, to that of the solar radiation intercepted) is continually transferred to the venusian atmosphere. The atmospheric system presents a symmetrical surface (same radiation-matter interaction) toward the solar radiation at its morning and evening limbs. If the cross-sectional areas at both limbs were equal, the momentum transfer at the morning limb would decelerate the atmosphere's rotation while at the evening limb the same transfer would accelerate the rotation an equal amount. The net result of this is that the overall rate of rotation would be unchanged. Such a symmetrical configuration is not likely since the atmosphere must be warmed as it rotates across the planet's day hemisphere and cooled as it rotates across the planet's night hemisphere. This warming and cooling must result in a formation of an asymmetrical configuration. It is apparent that the momentum transfer at the evening limb must be greater than that at the morning limb because the atmosphere's greater cross section at the evening limb intercepts a greater amount of solar radiation. It should be noted that very little of the solar radiation is transmitted through the cloud layers, especially at or near the limbs where the atmospheric path length of the radiation is long. This net momentum transfer must be continually added to the angular momentum of the atmospheric system at the same time angular momentum is continually removed from the atmosphere by the frictional drag imposed on the atmosphere by the slowly rotating planet's surface. This completes the description of this mechanism.

Krause, J. L.↗