AAS 95-414

Annihilation of Transverse Velocity Bias During Spinning-Up Maneuvers

R. A. Beck and J. M. Longuski, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Abstract

During spinning-up maneuvers of a spacecraft, the spin thrusters can produce a finite transverse velocity offset or bias in the plane perpendicular to the spin axis. A two-burn scheme is introduced to eliminate this offset. The fundamental transcendental equation for the velocity two-burn scheme is of the same form as Kepler's equation. The relationship between the velocity transcendental equation and Kepler's equation is investigated. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the two-burn scheme.