On Tue, 24 Dec 2002, Matson, Robert wrote: > > to be clear - the panels rotate the same to follow the sun. > > Agreed, but not germane to the question of what the satellite will > do once it is retired. > > > They're topologically equivalent - with equivalent moments of inertia. > > Topologically yes -- moments of inertia, no -- not unless you're > assuming the mass of the arrays is next to nothing compared to > the satellite body. that's a reasonable assumption. > And even if the arrays weighed practically > nothing, they are still the primary source of torque due to > solar radiation pressure. --Rob the arrays _do_ WEIGH practically nothing. They're in freefall... the torque from solar radiation tends to balance out across the craft thanks to symmetry - unless the body is shadowing a large proportion of the furthest panel, which tends to lead to rotation to counter the shadowing. cheers, L. <http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/><L.Wood@ee.surrey.ac.uk> ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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