Abstract:
Relative motion in a system consisting of two massive heliocentric space stations and a small
mass spacecraft equipped with a solar sail is considered. The system is approximately 1 AU from
the Sun. The spacecraft is capable of coasting along a tether (called a “handrail”) connecting the
stations, and the sail is oriented orthogonally to the solar rays direction. The distance between
the stations is assumed to be about a few kilometers. The stations are equipped with additional
solar sails that help compensate the influence of the spacecraft motion on the relative location of
the stations. The conditions providing such compensation are deduced. These conditions allow
one to determine the area and orientation of additional solar sails so that the distance between
the stations keeps invariable, and the segment connecting the stations remains orthogonal to
the solar rays after the spacecraft relocation between the most remote points permitted by the
handrail. The conditions are verified numerically by comparing the solutions of the equations
of motion with and without taking into account additional sails.
Keywords:solar sail, space tether system, heliocentric space station, handrail constraint, method of small parameter
Fulltext:
PDF file (278 kB)