AAS 98-142

STARDUST TCM AND DESPIN IN THE PRESENCE OF COMPLEX FUEL DYNAMICS

P. Good, A. Carpenter, H. Flanders, T. Gardner - Lockheed Martin Astronautics

Abstract

STARDUST is a mission to fly by the comet Wild-2 in early 2004 and return samples of the coma to Earth. Two critical issues in the design of the Stardust attitude control system were driven by the interaction of spacecraft and fuel dynamics: controller stability during delta-velocity burns and possible recontact with the launch vehicle upper stage during controlled despin of the spacecraft after separation. This paper discusses the analytical methods used to model the fuel and spacecraft dynamics and to resolve the control and recontact issues.

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