Symphonie. Natural Nutation Damping Due to the Ergols of the Hot Gas Propulsion System. Synthesis of MV1 and MV2 in Flight Results

摘要

In-flight measurements of nutation damping onboard SYMPHONIE satellites are interpreted, and a prediction model, which determines the time constant for nutation damping as a result of momentum energy being dissipated by liquid propellants in fuel tanks, is verified. Although model predictions disagree with in-flight measurements, they accurately portray the variation in damping time constant in function of tank fuel level. The radial motion of the satellite momentum wheel is evoked to explain the difference between computation and measurement.