Influence of the Reflecting Surface Transparency On Aerodynamic Characteristics of the Spherical Latticed Calibration Satellite

摘要

This paper considers a method of calculating aerodynamic drag of spherical calibration satellite in free molecular flow during orbital motion and presents the calculation results. The satellite is comprised of a reflecting latticed shell stretched over a rigid spherical frame. The spherical frame is comprised of rod elements in the equatorial and longitudinal directions. We propose a method of calculating shading area for the impinging flow by the lattice surface and the parts of the spherical frame carrying the latticed shell. The satellite can assume arbitrary angular positions with respect to the center of mass during uncontrolled orbital motion. Because of this the drag coefficients have to be evaluated for the cases of maximum and minimum resistance to flow. We obtain the relationship between the lattice size and the shading and transparency factors for different orientations of the spherical satellite with respect to the impinging flow velocity vector. We also provide qualitative assessment of the drag coefficient for different satellite orientations in the flow.