Gravitational orbit-rotation coupling of a rigid satellite around a planet, which is considered a spheroid with the gravitational potential calculated up to coefficient , is studied. By introducing the satellite’s inertia integrals, a model of its gravitational force and torque up to the fourth order is established in the form of explicit formulations. Some interesting conclusions about the model are reached. These conclusions are useful in truncating the planet’s gravitational field and the satellite’s inertia integrals with the demanded precision of the gravitational force and torque given. Then the equations of motion are presented. With a special rigid satellite consisted of 36 point masses, two simulation examples are carried out by using the exact and approximate models of the gravitational force and torque. By comparisons between the errors of different order approximate models, the effects of the planet’s harmonic coefficients and the satellite’s inertia integrals are investigated in detail. The orbit-rotation coupling is assessed. In the case of a natural satellite around a planet, the second-order inertia integrals are the main perturbation of the rotational motion. The perturbation of the satellite’s inertia integrals on the orbital motion, which is more significant than the perturbation of the planet’s harmonic coefficients , should be taken into account. It is shown that in the case of a large spacecraft around a small asteroid the orbit-rotation coupling is very severe, and higher-order inertia integrals of the spacecraft have significant effects on motion.
Gravitational Orbit-Rotation Coupling of a Rigid Satellite around a Spheroid Planet
Journal of Aerospace Engineering ; 27 , 1 ; 140-150
2012-03-08
112014-01-01 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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