The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 24, 1976
Filed:
Nov. 27, 1974
John Edward Keigler, Princeton, NJ (US);
Ludwig Muhlfelder, Livingston, NJ (US);
RCA Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
The orientation maneuver of a bias momentum stabilized spacecraft is achieved without the need of attitude determination by sensors and gyros and the like and without the conventional spin-down and spin-up procedures. The spacecraft is provided with a momentum wheel mounted in perpendicular relation to the axis of maximum moment of inertia. The wheel is initially de-energized during the time the spacecraft is initially launched from the ground launching platform until it is desired to orient the spacecraft in the final orbit. The momentum wheel, when energized from zero rotation to increasing rotation speeds, causes the rotation of the spacecraft from spinning about the maximum moment of inertia axis to an axis parallel to the momentum wheel axis with the final convergence of the wheel axis to the momentum vector being effected by energy dissipation in a nutation damper.