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:
Apr. 18, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 17, 1996
Thomas J Holmes, Portola Valley, CA (US);
Christopher R Purvis, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Space Systems/Loral, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for controlling the direction of a spacecraft of the type having a controller for calculating thrust forces comprises a plurality of thrusters disposed on said spacecraft in a spaced relationship relative to one another and aligning and locating each of said plurality of thrusters at a predetermined angle on said spacecraft relative to first, second and third orthogonally oriented axes such that the firing of any given pair of thrusters produces a torque about one of said spacecraft axes; and firing of all of said plurality of said thrusters in equal amounts at one time to cause the spacecraft to move in a linear manner along one of said three orthognally disposed axes.