The Temperature Shell Condition of Calibration Spacecraft at the Shadow Area of the Earth Orbit

• Published in: Aerospace Scientific Journal
• Main Authors: V. S. Zarubin, V. N. Zimin, G. N. Kuvyrkin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: MGTU im. N.È. Baumana 2016
• Subjects: calibration spacecraft; thermal model of the shell; the steady state temperature; Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics; TL1-4050; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.7463/aersp.0416.0846458; https://doaj.org/article/717018ba291f4ae49888c6bd2ecaa406

Сalibration spacecraft (CSC) is used to assess the energy potential of the radar channel of a ground-based complex for the motion control of space objects. A high precision spherical shell is one option for the geometric shape of such a CSC. The passive repeaters of signals and some types of reference reflectors have a shape of the same character. Along with the orbits close to the Arctic ones, said CSC may be in the circular and elliptical earth orbits, which have areas shaded by the Earth from the sun rays.We can assume that in the shaded area of the earth orbit the CSC shell is under temperature extremes only of the intrinsic radiation of the Earth surface, the intensity of which is substantially less than the intensity of the Sun heat radiation that reaches the near-Earth space. In this regard, one should expect a lower temperature of the shell in this area of the orbit as compared with its temperature in the sun-lit area. This will cause a significant change in CSC shell temperature within a period of its revolution around the Earth. Long-term cyclic change of the temperature condition of the CSC shell may restrict the resource efficiency of its material.As the shell material, is, usually, used a polymer film with several tens of microns in thickness, covered by a thin layer (a few nanometers of thickness) of deposited aluminum that is necessary to meet the CSC performance requirements. Following the CSC Earth orbital injection the shell takes a spherical shape due to the relatively low pressure produced by gas that fills it. In this case it is possible to obtain a spherical shell of a sufficiently large diameter, which is specific for the modern trends in deployment of large orbit transformable structures.To predict the health of the shell material resource is necessary to have information on the temperature distribution across its surface not only in the lit but also in the shaded area of the orbit. A quantitative analysis of the temperature condition of the CSC shell can be conducted through mathematical ...