THERMAL RADIATION TO A FLAT SURFACE ROTATING ABOUT AN ARBITRARY AXIS IN AN ELLIPTICAL EARTH ORBIT:APPLICATION TO SPIN-STABILIZED SATELLITES

摘要

The derivation of total thermal radiation incident upon a flat plate rotating about an arbitrary axis is presented. The functional relationships between position in an elliptical earth orbit and direct solar radiation, earth-reflected solar radiation (albedo), and earth-emitted radiation (earthshine) are included. The equations have been programmed for the IBM 7090 digital computer, resulting in solutions which relate the incident radiation to spin axis orientation and orbital position. Several representative orbits for a typical geometrical configuration were analyzed and are presented as examples.