Engineering topics

Laskin, R. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Laskin, R. A..

25 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1985

Payload isolation and precision pointing for the 1990's

The design of a pointing system that is applicable for a variety of payloads is examined. The system employs a very soft interface coupled with inertial control torques which use reaction wheels or control moment gyros. The fundamental stability and disturbance rejection characteristics of simple gimbal pointing systems and the soft mounted inertially reacting concept are evaluated and compared. It is observed that in simple and two-stage gimbal systems there is dynamic interaction with the basebody and these types of systems are not applicable for a Space Station/Space Platform environment in which system dynamics are uncertain; however, the soft mounted inertially reacting concept minimizes the dynamic interaction with the basebody and retains stability. It is concluded that the soft mounted inertially reacting concept has the pointing accuracy and disturbance isolation of a free flying spacecraft while still obtaining power, communication, orbit maintenance, and servicing from a basebody.

Sirlin, S. W.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Instrument pointing technology for spaceborne science missions of the 1990's

The technologies which will permit sub-0.1 arcsec pointing accuracies on spacecraft in the 1990s are examined, along with the accuracies required and the current state of the art. Of particular interest are multi-mission spacecraft. Pointing accuracy can only be obtained by integrating the instrument (telescope) as part of the spacecraft, minimizing disturbances and using reaction wheels for pointing. The pointer could be isolated from complex spacecraft disturbances by soft mechanical mounts, e.g., inflatible tethers, guy-wire suspension and fluidic pointing systems. All design options are being explored for the Space Station, Earth Observing System, Co-orbiting platform and GEO platform spacecraft, and for near-term planetary spacecraft which will employ nuclear electric propulsion.

Laskin, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Thermoelastic limit cycling of zippered cross section spacecraft booms

The phenomenon of thermal flutter of open cross section storable tubular extendible member (STEM) spacecraft booms was first observed in OGO IV and subsequently on a number of other satellites. Theoretical work ultimately ascribed the anomalous, undamped oscillations to the low torsional rigidity of the open section booms. This was confirmed when 'zippered' cross section booms, with substantially higher torsional rigidity, were later flown without exhibiting thermal flutter. However, zippered STEM booms generally have sizeable torsional backlash zones. It is shown here that small amplitude thermoelastic limit cycling within this backlash zone is theoretically possible and is the likely explanation for undamped oscillations recorded on Voyager 1 and 2 in the early stages of the Voyager mission.

Laskin, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

High precision active nutation control for a flexible momentum biased spacecraft

The controller design for the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is presented. SDO is a momentum biased spacecraft with three flexible appendages. Its primary scientific instrument, the solar oscillations imager (SOI), is rigidly attached to the spacecraft bus and has arc-second pointing requirements. Meeting these requirements necessitates the use of an active nutation controller (ANC) which is here mechanized with a small reaction wheel oriented along a bus transverse axis. The ANC does its job by orchestrating the transfer of angular momentum out of the bus transverse axes and into the momentum wheel. A simulation study verifies that the controller provides quick, stable, and accurate response.

Laskin, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Stability of a dual-spin spacecraft with spherical dampers

The present investigation is concerned with the stability characteristics of a specific dual-spin satellite configuration marked by a high degree of symmetry. The configuration includes a platform and a rotor. Both components contain arbitrarily located internal spherical dampers. The symmetry of the system configuration makes it possible to illustrate clearly the relationship between Routhian analysis, energy sink analysis, and digital simulation of the full nonlinear equations. Although the dual-spin spacecraft configuration contains energy dissipating devices on both platform and rotor, it is still possible to employ the rigorous, but relatively simple, Routh stability method. This method, unlike Floquet theory, has the potential of producing closed-form stability criteria. The energy sink method is capable of providing a closed-form stability criterion. Numerical simulation is a necessary requirement in the latter stages of design when the realistic perturbation environment must be considered.

Laskin, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Future payload isolation and pointing system technology

Pointing requirements for spaceborne scientific instruments are getting progressively more stringent. At the same time the instruments are likely to fly in an increasingly disturbance rich environment characterized by large basebody and instrument to instrument dynamic interactions. It is not clear that current state-of-the-art pointing technology will be able to adequately address the needs of the mid 1990's. Design options to meet these needs are suggested herein including an innovative 'softmount' concept. The advantages of the softmount approach as compared to the traditional gimbal architecture are illustrated through a planar stability and disturbance response analysis.

Laskin, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

A definition of the degree of disturbance rejection

The problem of rejecting disturbances that are known a priori to reside in a particular function class is treated. Two scalar measures, the degree of disturbance rejection (DODR) and the degree of disturbability (DOD) are defined and shown to be useful in rating a candidate controller's ability to counter the expected disturbances. The measures can thus be used as criteria for controller design and actuator placement. It is shown that the DODR can guarantee that constraints on the control action will not be violated. The DOD assumes a closed-loop controller realization, and this gives a simplified formulation in terms of one state space region instead of two. With the DOD, a variety of performance indices can be considered, together with a spectrum of possible controller implementations.

Laskin, R. A.↗