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:
Sep. 25, 2001
Filed:
May. 06, 1999
Jeffrey A. Kurland, Marina Del Rey, CA (US);
Hughes Electronics Corporation, El Segundo, CA (US);
Abstract
A momentum control system for driving the momentum of a spinning spacecraft to zero while it spins around a sunline. The system includes a sun sensor for determining the position of the sun, a suite of tachometers for determining the momentum stored in the spacecraft, and a stored movement sensor. Each of the readings from these sensors is fed to a controller. The controller also monitors the magnitude of the spacecraft overturning momentum and the windmill momentum. If the overturning momentum is outside acceptable limits then the rotation rate of the spacecraft is modulated to drive the overturning momentum towards zero. If the windmill momentum exceeds acceptable limits, the angle of the solar panel is adjusted to drive the windmill momentum towards zero.