The NASA New Millennium Program Space Technology 7 (ST7) project will validate technology for precision spacecraft control. The ST7 Distrubance Reduction System (DRS) will contain new micropulsion technology to be flown as part of the European Space Agency's LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) Pathfinder project. After launch into a low Earth orbit in early 2010, the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft will be maneuvered to a halo orbit about the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point for operations. The DRS will control the position of the spacecraft relative to a reference to an accuracy of one nanometer over time scales of several thousand seconds. To perform the control the spacecraft will use a new colloid thruster technology. The thrusters will operate over the range of 5 to 30 micro-Newtons with precision of 0.1 micro-Newton. The thrust will be generated by using a high electric field to extract charged droplets of a conducting colloid fluid and accelerating them with a precisely adjustable voltage. The control position reference will be provided by the European LISA Technology Package, which will include two nearly free-floating test masses. The test mass position and attitude will be sensed and adjusted using electrostatic capacitance bridges. The DRS will control the spacecraft position with respect to one test mass while minimizing disturbances on the second test mass. The dynamic control system will cover eighteen degrees of freedom, six for each of the test masses and six for the spacecraft.
Space Technology 7 -- Micropropulsion and Mass Distribution
2007-03-01
2536877 byte
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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