Observation method including the scanning of a celestial body and the measurement of the angular velocity of a space vehicle, observation system for its application and space vehicle provided with this system.

摘要

The method of observation involves the scanning of a celestial body (T) from a spacecraft (S) carrying an observation system which scans with reference to a scanning axis. Two signals (A, B) are formed (16) in succession, each of which is produced by scanning the same strip of ground (BT) in the same direction of movement. In both these signals, a characteristic transition (A1, B1) representative of the same characteristic point in this strip of ground is detected (17). The relative position of these transitions in these signals is recorded (18). From any difference there may be between these relative positions, a possible angular velocity ( omega ) of the spacecraft is calculated (19), taking into account the time interval separating the instants at which each of these transitions appeared in the said signals.
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