CONTROLLING A PROPELLANT DISTRIBUTION IN A SPACECRAFT PROPELLANT TANK

摘要

A propellant tank assembly (100) for a spacecraft comprises a body (101) for containing propellant, and a plurality of tomography elements (201) disposed around the body (101) for detecting a distribution of the propellant inside the body (101). In an embodiment, the propellant tank body (101) includes a propellant management device (110) inside the body (101) and the tomography elements (201) are disposed in proximity to the propellant management device (110). Tomography data can be obtained from the plurality of tomography elements (201), and a distribution of propellant within the propellant tank body (101) can be determined based on the obtained tomography data. When the plurality of tomography elements (201) are thermal tomography elements including a plurality of temperature-control elements, the temperature-control elements can be controlled to redistribute the propellant inside the propellant tank body by heating and/or cooling the propellant.