Y. Ohkami et al., EVALUATION OF MICROGRAVITY LEVEL FLUCTUATION DUE TO ATTITUDE ORBITAL MOTION IN A TETHERED SATELLITE SYSTEM, Acta astronautica, 35(2-3), 1995, pp. 187-191
One of the most useful applications of tethered satellite systems is t
o isolate the payload from the main base (or space station) and to pro
vide a better or variable microgravity environment. This paper present
s a method for evaluation of the microgravity level inside the tethere
d platform which may be influenced by dynamical motion of the main bas
e and ballast. For this evaluation, a complete set of dynamical equati
ons is derived for the attitude/orbital motion of the three-mass syste
m connected by tethers with emphasis on the motion of the low-g platfo
rm placed in the middle. The solution of this equation is for angular
and translational velocities, to be substituted into an evaluation for
mula of the microgravity level at an arbitrary position in the platfor
m based on a generic and rigorous definition of the microgravity. A se
t of linearized equations of motion is also provided.