Induced resonant torques during the descent of a small asymmetric spacecraft in the atmosphere

Abstract

This paper investigates an uncontrolled descent of an asymmetric spacecraft in the atmosphere. Suppose that the small spacecraft is a rigid body with small mass-inertial and small aerodynamic asymmetries. The aim of the research is to study small mechanical torques caused by the principal resonance at the non-resonant domains. The proposed study solves the following problems: revealing specific features of the mechanical torque, determining the magnitudes of non-resonant domains of activity of the torque and finding methods to measure the torque. One can conclude that the application of the averaging method makes it possible to research the small mechanical torques induced by the principal resonance. This torque leads to a significant angular velocity evolution of a small spacecraft in the non-resonant domains.