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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.

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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1962

THE MERCURY CAPSULE ATTITUDE CONTROL SYSTEM

In accordance with the basic design concepts of the Mercury Capsule, the manual and automatic control systems were developed to provide a redundant and integrated method of controlling the capsule attitude. The systems were designed to meet the requirements of ballistic and orbital flight, for normal and abort missions. Since the orbital mission includes all modes of control, it will serve as a basis for the system description.

Mercury capsule↗
NASA NTRS1982

A summary of the Dynamics Explorer /DE/-2 spacecraft attitude control operations and dynamics

A summary of attitude control operations and observed attitude dynamics for the Dynamics Explorer (DE)-2 spacecraft is presented. By performing a systematic analysis of spacecraft drift and through optimization of modeling parameters in dynamics simulators, insight is given into spacecraft dynamics, techniques for reducing drift, and methods for streamlining operational procedures. This paper discusses how attitude and momentum drift were reduced for DE-2 by changing spacecraft geometry, altering operational procedures and making timely use of the control modes available. Attempts to correlate spacecraft drift activity with known environmental variables are made with only limited success.

Stengle, T. H.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Attitude control with realization of linear error dynamics

An attitude control law is derived to realize linear unforced error dynamics with the attitude error defined in terms of rotation group algebra (rather than vector algebra). Euler parameters are used in the rotational dynamics model because they are globally nonsingular, but only the minimal three Euler parameters are used in the error dynamics model because they have no nonlinear mathematical constraints to prevent the realization of linear error dynamics. The control law is singular only when the attitude error angle is exactly pi rad about any eigenaxis, and a simple intuitive modification at the singularity allows the control law to be used globally. The forced error dynamics are nonlinear but stable. Numerical simulation tests show that the control law performs robustly for both initial attitude acquisition and attitude control.

Paielli, Russell A.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Spacecraft methods and structures with enhanced attitude control that facilitates gyroscope substitutions

Methods and structures are provided that enhance attitude control during gyroscope substitutions by insuring that a spacecraft's attitude control system does not drive its absolute-attitude sensors out of their capture ranges. In a method embodiment, an operational process-noise covariance Q of a Kalman filter is temporarily replaced with a substantially greater interim process-noise covariance Q. This replacement increases the weight given to the most recent attitude measurements and hastens the reduction of attitude errors and gyroscope bias errors. The error effect of the substituted gyroscopes is reduced and the absolute-attitude sensors are not driven out of their capture range. In another method embodiment, this replacement is preceded by the temporary replacement of an operational measurement-noise variance R with a substantially larger interim measurement-noise variance R to reduce transients during the gyroscope substitutions.

Li, Rongsheng↗
NASA NTRS1960

Satellite Attitude Control Using a Combination of Inertia Wheels and a Bar Magnet

The use of inertia wheels to control the attitude of a satellite has currently aroused much interest. The stability of such a system has been studied in this investigation. A single-degree-of-freedom analysis indicates that a response with suitable dynamic characteristics and precise control can be achieved by commanding the angular velocity of the inertia wheel with an error signal that is the sum of the attitude error, the attitude rate, and the integral of the attitude error. A digital computer was used to study the three-degree-of-freedom response to step displacements, and the results indicate that the cross-coupling effects of inertia coupling and precession coupling had no effect on system stability. A study was also made of the use of a bar magnet to supplement the inertia wheels by providing a means of removing any momentum introduced into the system by disturbances such as aerodynamic torques. A study of a case with large aerodynamic torques, with a typical orbit, indicated that the magnet was a suitable device for supplying the essential trimming force. Single-degree-of-freedom bench tests generally verified the dynamic response predicted by the analytical study. the test table to within plus or minus 9 arc-seconds of the reference direction, even though the hardware components that were used in these tests were not specifically designed for the control system.

Adams, James J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

On-orbit experience with the HEAO attitude control subsystem

The first satellite (HEAO-1) in the High Energy Astronomy Observatory Program series was launched successfully on Aug. 12, 1977. To date it has completed over nine months of orbital operation in a science data gathering mode. During this period all attitude control modes have been exercised and all primary mission objectives have been achieved. This paper highlights the characteristics of the attitude control subsystem design and compares the predicted performance with the actual flight operations experience. Environmental disturbance modeling, component hardware/software characteristics, and overall attitude control performance are reviewed and are found to compare very well with the prelaunch analytical predictions. Brief comments are also included regarding the operations aspects of the attitude control subsystem. The experience in this regard demonstrates the effectiveness of the design flexibility afforded by the presence of a general purpose digital processor in the subsystem flight hardware implementation.

Hoffman, D. P.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Pulsed Plasma Thrusters for Small Spacecraft Attitude Control

Pulsed plasma thrusters (PPT's) are a new option for attitude control of a small spacecraft and may result in reduced attitude control system (ACS) mass and cost. The primary purpose of an ACS is to orient the spacecraft configuration to the desired accuracy in inertial space. The ACS functions for which the PPT system will be analyzed include disturbance torque compensation and slewing maneuvers such as sun acquisition for which the small impulse bit and high specific impulse of the PPT offers unique advantages. The NASA Lewis Reserach Center (LeRC) currently has a contracted flight PPT system development program in place with Olin Aerospace and a delivery date of October 1997. The PPT system in this study are based upon the work being done under the NASA LeRC program. Analysis of the use of PPT's for ACS showed that the replacement of the standard momentum wheels and torque rods systems with a PTT system to perform the altitude control maneuvers on a small low Earth orbiting spacecraft reduced the ACS mass by 50 to 75 percent with no increase in required power level over comparable wheel-based systems.

McGuire, Melissa L.↗
NASA NTRS1971

A description of the thruster attitude control simulation and its application to the HEAO-C study

During the design and evaluation of a reaction control system (RCS), it is desirable to have a digital computer program simulating vehicle dynamics, disturbance torques, control torques, and RCS logic. The thruster attitude control simulation (TACS) is just such a computer program. The TACS is a relatively sophisticated digital computer program that includes all the major parameters involved in the attitude control of a vehicle using an RCS for control. It includes the effects of gravity gradient torques and HEAO-C aerodynamic torques so that realistic runs can be made in the areas of fuel consumption and engine actuation rates. Also, the program is general enough that any engine configuration and logic scheme can be implemented in a reasonable amount of time. The results of the application of the TACS in the HEAO-C study are included.

Brandon, L. B.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Integrated Attitude Control Strategy for the Asteroid Redirect Mission

A deep-space mission has been proposed to redirect an asteroid to a distant retrograde orbit around the moon using a robotic vehicle, the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle (ARV). In this orbit, astronauts will rendezvous with the ARV using the Orion spacecraft. The integrated attitude control concept that Orion will use for approach and docking and for mated operations will be described. Details of the ARV's attitude control system and its associated constraints for redirecting the asteroid to the distant retrograde orbit around the moon will be provided. Once Orion is docked to the ARV, an overall description of the mated stack attitude during all phases of the mission will be presented using a coordinate system that was developed for this mission. Next, the thermal and power constraints of both the ARV and Orion will be discussed as well as how they are used to define the optimal integrated stack attitude. Lastly, the lighting and communications constraints necessary for the crew's extravehicular activity planned to retrieve samples from the asteroid will be examined. Similarly, the joint attitude control strategy that employs both the Orion and the ARV attitude control assets prior, during, and after each extravehicular activity will also be thoroughly discussed.

Lopez, Pedro, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Linearization of Attitude-Control Error Dynamics

Direction cosines and quaternions are useful for representing rigid-body attitude because they exhibit no kinematic singularities. Each utilizes more variables than the minimum three degrees of freedom required to specify attitude. Therefore, application of a nonlinear inversion procedure to either formulation introduces singularities. Furthermore, in designing an attitude-control system, it is not appropriate to express attitude error as a difference of direction cosines (or quaternions). One should employ a measure of attitude error that not only is minimal but preserves orthogonal rotation properties as well. This note applies an inversion procedure to an appropriate measure of attitude error, so that the singularity occurs when the error reaches +/- 180 deg. This approach leads to the realization of a new model-follower attitude-control system that exhibits exact linear attitude-error dynamics.

Bach, Ralph↗
NASA NTRS2002

An attitude control system for the SIM Test Bed 3 (STB3)

In this paper, the details of the design, construction and performance of the attitude control system are presented. The attitude control system has been used to meet certain SIM requirements. An example of this performance test is also included.

spaceborne↗