AAS 97-103

DYNAMICS AND CONTROL OF CLOSE ORBITS AROUND SMALL ROTATING BODIES

M. Guelman, Israel Institute of Technology

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to analyze the orbits about a rotating small celestial body and to develop a control law to achieve stable orbits with respect to this body. The celestial body is rotating about a principal axis, with the rotational velocity assumed to be constant and along the largest moment of inertia. To take into account the body's irregular gravitational field, use is made of the gravitational potential approximation including the first three terms in the power series expansion. A closed loop guidance law is defined and guidance constants are obtained to assure convergence to stable orbits.