| 摘要 |
Apparatus for enhancing the stability of a spacecraft (2) about a sensing axis (4). The spacecraft (2) may be of the three axis stabilized or spin stabilized variety. An attitude sensor (3) determines the offset angle (A) formed between a face (8) of the spacecraft (2) and an astronomical body (6), such as the earth. The sensor (3) produces an attitude signal (14) which is processed by compensation electronics (21) and fed to a torquing means (25) to close the angle (A) to within a desired preselected deadband (24). The attitude signal (14) is hysteresis conditioned to 1) suppress saturated portions (18, 20) of the signal (14) having opposite polarity with respect to spacecraft (2) angular velocity, to avoid unwanted spacecraft (2) spinup; 2) allow passage to the compensation electronics (21) of saturated portions (18, 20) of the signal (14) having the same polarity with respect to the angular velocity of the spacecraft (2), to damp the spacecraft (2) velocity; and 3) suppress the signal (14) when the sensor (3) is not detecting the body (6), in order to limit the velocity of the spacecraft (2). |
