Abstract The development of systems for transporting space objects by an active spacecraft is an urgent task of modern astronautics. One of the promising areas in this field is contactless ion beam transport systems. The goals of this work are to study a space object attitude motion dynamics during its contactless transportation and the influence of this motion on the magnitude of the force transmitted by the ion beam. A mathematical model of a mechanical system consisting of the space object and the active spacecraft was developed using the Lagrange formalism. A simplified equation of the object's angular motion in Kepler's orbit was obtained. The influence of the object's center of mass position and the ratio of ion beam and gravity gradient torques on the phase portrait view in the case of cylindrical object in a circular orbit was studied. The most favorable areas on phase portrait from the point of view of the magnitude of the force transferred by the ion beam to the object were found. It is shown that in the case of an elliptical orbit chaos exists. Entering a phase trajectory in a chaotic layer can lead to a noticeable decrease in the ion beam force.
Highlights Equations of a space object attitude motion under the influence of an ion beam. Analysis of the object's parameters influence on the bifurcation diagram. Analysis of the attitude motion influence on the force transmitted by the ion beam. Chaotization of the oscillations can significant change the ion beam force.
Attitude motion of a space object during its contactless ion beam transportation
Acta Astronautica ; 179 ; 359-370
2020-11-09
12 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
European Patent Office | 2019
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