The ElectroDynamic Delivery Experiment (EDDE) is proposed for a space demonstration. EDDE consists of an autonomous space vehicle powered by lightweight solar arrays, a bi-directional electrodynamic tether, and batteries for power leveling. The EDDE vehicle can modify its orbit repeatedly without rocket fuel, and can change all six orbital parameters by modulating and reversing the current flow in the conducting tether. The base spacecraft is connected to the service module by a 6-km-long electrodynamic tether, and is designed for 2 kW of power and a total mass of 180 kg. Tether lifetime of several years is achieved with a two-strand caduceus, with the strands connected every few meters. Tether libration is minimized by mass distribution and by active current control. The vehicle and tether system concepts are developed, the operational envelopes are examined, and potential applications are evaluated. The EDDE vehicle is about twice as fast as ion rockets for high-inclination orbital plane changes, and has much higher maximum delta-V capability. A proof-of-concept experiment is proposed for a low-cost space demonstration. This on-orbit experiment could include additional secondary payloads; for example, EDDE could place low-ΔV, free-flying inspectors into arbitrary orbits from which they could approach selected objects without concern for tether dynamics or interference.


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    Title :

    The ElectroDynamic Delivery Experiment (EDDE)


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Space Technology and Applications International Forum - 2001 ; 2001 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico


    Published in:

    AIP Conference Proceedings ; 552 , 1 ; 425-432


    Publication date :

    2001-02-02


    Size :

    8 pages





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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