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Orbital and Attitude Stability of Space Shuttles in Parking Orbits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2016

R Arho
R Arho*
Affiliation:
Helsinki University of Technology
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Summary

A unified treatment is given of the orbital and attitude stability of space shuttles in parking orbits (in vacuo) in the earth’s gravitational field. A shuttle in a circular orbit with a principal axis aligned with the horizontal in the orbital plane is found to be in stationary geostatic equilibrium. The demand for stability leads to a condition which must be satisfied by the principal moments of inertia. The stability which is achieved is not asymptotic without control. The stationary state is a stable centre about which a bounded perturbation oscillation without damping may exist.

Type
Research Article
Information
Aeronautical Quarterly , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , February 1975 , pp. 20 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society. 1975

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References

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