Claims
- 1. A method for autonomous safing of a spacecraft with reaction wheels, the spacecraft having at least one wing for generating power, the method comprising:
setting the at least one wing to continuous tracking; determining a slew rate vector based on total angular momentum; slewing the spacecraft using the slew rate vector until commanded to stop autonomous safing when said angular momentum is below a threshold momentum of said reaction wheels; and aligning a spacecraft body rotation with the slew rate vector by controlling the reaction wheels to null rates transverse to said slew rate vector when said angular momentum is above a threshold momentum of said reaction wheels.
- 2. The method for autonomous safing of a spacecraft with reaction wheels as in claim 1, the spacecraft having four reaction wheels, the reaction wheel axes of rotation forming the slant edges of a pyramid having a square base, two reaction wheels on opposite edges of the pyramid forming a first pair and two reaction wheels remaining forming a second pair, the direction of the slew rate vector defining a slew axis of rotation, wherein determining a slew rate vector comprises:
determining as a selected pair the first pair if either reaction wheel in the second pair is inoperative, otherwise determining as the selected pair the second pair; and determining as the slew axis of rotation the normalized projection of the axes of rotation of the selected pair onto the base.
- 3. The method for autonomous safing of a spacecraft with reaction wheels as in claim 2, wherein determining a slew rate vector further comprises computing the product of a preset fault hold rate, the normalized projection of the axes of rotation of the selected pair, and the slew direction determined by the sign of the total angular momentum component along the slew axis of rotation.
- 4. A system for autonomous safing of a spacecraft having a body comprising:
at least one solar wing; for each solar wing, a solar wing drive attaching the solar wing to the body, the solar wing drive operable to rotate the solar wing relative to the body; a reaction wheel system within the body, the reaction wheel system operative to exchange angular momentum with the body; and a control logic within the body, the control logic in communication with each solar wing drive and the reaction wheel system, the control logic operable to (a) set the at least one wing to continuous tracking, (b) determine a slew rate vector based on the total angular momentum, (c) slew the spacecraft using the slew rate vector until commanded to stop autonomous safing when said angular momentum is below a threshold momentum of said reaction wheels, and (d) align a spacecraft body rotation with the slew rate vector by controlling the reaction wheels to null rates transverse to said slew rate vector when said angular momentum is above a threshold momentum of said reaction wheels.
- 5. The system for autonomous safing of a spacecraft as in claim 4, the reaction wheel system having four reaction wheels, the reaction wheel axes of rotation forming the slant edges of a pyramid having a square base, two reaction wheels on opposite edges of the pyramid forming a first pair and two reaction wheels remaining forming a second pair, the direction of the slew rate vector defining a slew axis of rotation, the control logic further operative to determine as a selected pair the first pair if either reaction wheel in the second pair is inoperative, otherwise determining as the selected pair the second pair, and determine as the slew axis of rotation the normalized projection of the axes of rotation of the selected pair onto the base.
- 6. The system for autonomous safing of a spacecraft as in claim 5, the spacecraft having a preset fault hold rate, the control logic further operative to determine the slew rate vector as the product of the preset fault hold rate, the normalized projection of the axes of rotation of the selected pair, and the slew direction determined by the sign of the total angular momentum component along the slew axis of rotation.
- 7. A method for autonomous safing of a spacecraft comprising the steps of:
providing a spacecraft comprising at least one wing for generating power and further comprising four reaction wheels, the four reaction wheels being respectively positioned along four slant edges of a pyramid having a square base; orienting the spacecraft using at least two of the four reaction wheels operating simultaneously to align a spacecraft body rotation with a slew rate vector by controlling the reaction wheels to null rates transverse to said slew rate vector when said angular momentum is above a threshold momentum of said reaction wheels.
- 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the four reaction wheels include a first pair of oppositely disposed reaction wheels and a second pair of oppositely disposed reaction wheels, and wherein the step of orienting includes the step of operating a selected pair of reaction wheels as either the first pair of oppositely disposed reaction wheels or the second pair of oppositely disposed reaction wheels.
- 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of orienting includes the steps of setting the at least one wing to continuous tracking;
determining a slew rate vector based on total angular momentum; and slewing the spacecraft using the slew rate vector until commanded to stop.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of determining includes the step of computing the product of a preset fault hold rate, the normalized projections of the axes of rotation of the selected pair, and the slew direction determined by the sign of the total angular momentum component along the slew axis of rotation.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of earlier filed provisional patent application Serial No. 60/188,126 filed on Mar. 09, 2000, entitled “Safing Mode For High Momentum States In Body Stabilized Spacecraft.”
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60188126 |
Mar 2000 |
US |