In the fall of 1977 it was determined that Skylab had started to tumble and that the original orbit lifetime predictions were much too optimistic. A decision had to be made whether to accept an early uncontrolled reentry with its inherent risks or try to attempt to control Skylab to a lower drag attitude in the hope that there was enough time to develop a Teleoperator Retrieval System, bring it up on the Space Shuttle and then decide whether to boost Skylab to a higher longer life orbit or to reenter it in a controlled fashion. The end-on-velocity (EOVV) control method is documented, which was successfully applied for about half a year to keep Skylab in a low drag attitude with the aid of the control moment gyros and a minimal expenditure of attitude control gas.
Low Drag Attitude Control for Skylab Orbital Lifetime Extension
1981
65 pages
Report
No indication
English
Skylab Orbital Lifetime Prediction and Decay Analysis
NTIS | 1980
|Skylab attitude control system
NTRS | 1976
|Skylab attitude control system
Tema Archive | 1976
|