Spacecraft with Periodic Mass Redistribution: Regular and Chaotic Behaviour
Received 05 December 2022; accepted 26 December 2022; published 30 December 2022
2022, Vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 639-649
Author(s): Burov A. A., Kosenko I., Nikonov V. I.
The motion of a spacecraft containing a moving massive point in the central field of Newtonian
attraction is considered. Within the framework of the so-called “satellite approximation”,
the center of mass of the system is assumed to move in an unperturbed elliptical Keplerian orbit.
The spacecraft’s dynamics about its center of mass is studied. Conditions under which the
spacecraft rotates about a perpendicular to the plane of the orbit uniformly with respect to the
true anomaly are found. Such uniform rotations are achieved using a specially selected rule for
changing the position of a massive point with respect to the spacecraft. Necessary conditions for
these uniform rotations are studied numerically. An analysis of the nonintegrability of a special
class of spacecraft’s rotation is carried out using the method of separatrix splitting. Poincaré
sections are constructed for certain parameter values. Several linearly stable periodic motions
are pointed out and investigated.
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