Apparatus and method for controlling attitude of a spacecraft orbiting Earth or other celestial body

摘要

Apparatus for controlling attitude of a spacecraft (1) orbiting Earth or other Celestial body, includes primary magnet means (2) mountable on the spacecraft (1) for motion relative thereto under the influence of the magnetic field (A) of the Earth or other Celestial body, energy dissipating means (3, 4) locatable on the spacecraft (1) and operable to bring motion of the spacecraft (1) substantially into equality with that of the primary magnet means (2), thereby to damp down rotation of the spacecraft (1), and means (5) for biasing the primary magnet means (2) towards a desired orientation with respect to the spacecraft (1) thereby to control attitude of the spacecraft (1). IMAGE