Lifting body effects on the equilibrium orientation of tethers in the atmosphere

In recent years, a large number of tether atmospheric missions to the Earth and other planets have been proposed. Tethered probes in these studies are generally modeled as simple spheres and altitude must be maintained using slow tether reel mechanisms. In missions where large atmospheric uncertaint ies are expected, this slow altitude control mechanism may prove unacceptab le. Using a hypersonic lifting body as the probe provides an additional mea ns for controlling the tether system. The use of a moveable tether attachme nt point represents a simple mechanism to control the altitude and aerodyna mic forces of the lifting probe. In this paper we investigate the effects o f this control mechanism on the equilibrium orientation of a tether system in circular orbit. These preliminary results indicate that the lifting body provides a significant level of control over the probe altitude. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.