AAS 97-600
TiPS: RESULTS OF A TETHERED SATELLITE EXPERIMENT
W. Purdy, S. Coffey, and B. Kelm - Naval Research Laboratory, W.J. Barnds - Swales Aerospace, and M.A. Davis - Allied Signal
Abstract
This paper presents the results of the Tether Physics and Survivability (TiPS) experiment. We provide a description of new analytical tools and methodologies developed for determining the dynamics of the system. A year's worth of laser, radar and optical tracking are combined to provide the history of the librational and rotational motion. One finding from the experiment was that the attitude motion has damped significantly since initial deployment. A number of tether dynamics specialists have been enlisted to correlate the observed dynamics with theoretical models. In turn enhancements in the tether models are being made as a result of the TiPS data. The results of the TiPS experiment demonstrates the predictability, stability and robustness of tether systems and hint at tethers' potential for space applications.