Attitude stability of dual-spin spacecraft with unsymmetrical bodies

Abstract

This paper investigates the attitude stability of dual-spin spacecraft with unsymmetrical bodies. Of particular interest is the unstable attitude behavior that can result during the despin maneuver of the spacecraft's platform or rotor. The attitude stability of several representative spacecraft configurations is investigated. The results indicate that the likelihood of unstable attitude behavior decreases as the spin-up body becomes more symmetric and the spin-down body becomes less so. The change in the relative rotation rate between the spacecraft's platform and rotor is assumed to be slow compared to the precession rate. The attitude stability information presented evolves from the application of Hill's infinite determinant method, with the results confirmed by Floquet theory. Parameter selections for the Floquet study were guided by the results predicted by Hill's method. Further, the analysis results are compared to those of Tsuchiya, which are based on the method of averaging. The present work shows that the stability regions are rich in details which have not been identified by previous investigations.