The deployment, dynamics, and control of the electric solar wind sail is addressed in terms of the single tether motion. Based on a simple model of a rotating rigid tether as a spherical pendulum, estimates for the goodness of the control system are shown for strictly planar tether tip orbits. It is concluded that the control system is rather inefficient for a slowly rotating sail with a large tether coning angle. The results are conservative as they do not take into account the actual shape of the tether. The long and short-term effects on the sail rotation rate arising from the single tether dynamics are addressed. We also present preliminary results on a new control scheme assuming non-planar tether tip orbits. It is argued that the scheme will improve the electric sail control system efficiency.
Electric Solar Wind Sail: Deployment, Long-Term Dynamics, and Control Hardware Requirements
Springer Praxis Books (formerly: Springer-Praxis Series)
2014-02-04
11 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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