Spacecraft control /2nd revised and enlarged edition/

An introduction to the basic principles of spacecraft control, including recent developments in science and technology in this field. The problems of maneuvering (controlling the motion of the center of mass) and orientation (controlling motion around the center of mass) are covered. The book first discusses the spacecraft as a controlled object. Space flight and problems of orientation, the dynamics of spacecraft rotational motions, and methods and systems of passive control are treated. Next, elements of the control system, including measurement devices, amplifiers and converters, and control devices, are discussed. Finally, various types of control system are examined. These include: systems using thrusters; systems combining reaction wheels and gyroscopic devices; systems using a magnetorquer; and systems of extensive (or directed) orientation control, in which rotations around an equivalent Eulerian axis replace three-axis rotations.