Measurement of the magnetic field vector from a rotating spacecraft.
Abstract
The authors propose a method of restoration of magnetic field components measured by a vector magnetometer onboard of a spacecraft which rotates at an angular velocity unknown in advance. The available magnetometer data are used for a precise estimation of the spacecraft angular velocity. The latter estimate, combined with knowledge of the initial orientation of the spacecraft, allows to restore the components of the external magnetic field in an inertial frame. The proposed method is applied to analysis of magnetic field measurements near Mars by "Phobos 2". The angular velocity of the spacecraft is estimated to an accuracy higher than 0.1 percent.
- Publication:
-
Kosmicheskie Issledovaniia
- Pub Date:
- July 1991
- Bibcode:
- 1991KosIs..29..597T
- Keywords:
-
- Magnetic Measurement;
- Mars (Planet);
- Planetary Magnetic Fields;
- Satellite Observation;
- Satellite Rotation;
- Angular Velocity;
- Data Processing;
- Magnetometers;
- Satellite-Borne Instruments;
- Spacecraft Instrumentation