WEBERSAT: data analysis and dynamic behavior

Webersat has exhibited strange dynamic behavior as confirmed by telemetry; the spin rate has decreased from 5 to 0.05 rpm over the last year. The elongated shape of Webersat is noted to result in an unstable spin about the Z-axis. It is proposed that, in the future, spin-stabilized satellites should be designed to be short and fat about their spin axis rather than tall and thin. The Webersat space frame can be made to spin about the Z-axis if the masses are redistributed so as to produce an overall increase in the moment of inertia about the spin axis.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.