Abstract
Tether physics and survivability (TiPS) satellite was launched on June 20, 1996 into a nearly circular 1000 km altitude orbit. It included two small end-bodies connected with a 4-km tether. After a year of a passive flight in orbit, the system showed significant decrease of both in-plane and out-of-plane libration amplitudes. Internal tether friction is believed to be responsible for this evolution. This article presents a theory of a long-term evolution of a tether system libration in orbit due to the internal friction in the tether, discusses a remarkable resonance between in-plane and out-of-plane librations, and applies the theory to the analysis of the TiPS flight data.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 527-534 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Acta Astronautica |
Volume | 50 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2002 |