Following the successful transition of GOES-8 to the on- orbit mode, small disturbances were observed at approximately 14_30 SLT. Further analysis has shown that the disturbance is caused by shadowing of the solar sail by the magnetometer boom. The disturbance is most prominent when the sun is at lower declinations causing the shadow to rise higher along the sail boom. Data for the solar sail snap caused by the magnetometer boom shadow is analyzed, showing the time dependence of the attitude motion in the wheel angular momentum data and earth sensor data. Additional data is presented showing the profile of the shadow as viewed through the imager and sounder cooler radiator patch heater control voltage data. The presentation will demonstrate the following: 1) The attitude variation is caused by the magnetometer boom shadow as it is correlated with the true position of the sun; 2) The magnitude of the spacecraft motion for GOES-8 and GOES-9 is measured and compared over the seasonal duration of the effect; 3) The amount of deflection of the sail boom required to cause the observed attitude motion is estimated; 4) The dependence of the magnitude of the attitude motion is compared with sun angle subtended by the spacecraft north panel at the shadow point on the sail boom; and 5) Use of the onboard computer's reprogrammability function has provided a mechanism of compensating for the disturbance.
Effect of the magnetometer boom shadow on the attitude pointing and control of the GOES-8 and GOES-9 spacecraft
GOES-8 and Beyond ; 1996 ; Denver,CO,United States
Proc. SPIE ; 2812
1996-10-18
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Attitude determination designs for the GOES spacecraft
SPIE | 1996
|The Galeleo spacecraft magnetometer boom
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