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:
Nov. 02, 1993
Filed:
Nov. 27, 1991
Douglas J Bender, Redondo Beach, CA (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
This invention discloses a method for maintaining a desirable orientation of the solar wings of an orbiting satellite (10) relative to the sun. A dual array of sun sensors (26,28) is positioned on a body (12) of the satellite (10) in order to get a measurement of the position of the sun relative to the body (12) once per every orbit of the satellite (10). In addition, an estimate of the position of the solar wings (16,17) relative to the body (12) of the satellite (10) is attained. The sun-to-body angle is then subtracted from the body-to-wing angle to drive an error signal which is applied to a wing driver mechanism in order to maintain the solar wings (16,17) of the satellite (10) in a proper orientation relative to the sun.