Maybe the rotator motor wasn't meant to be used to spin stabilize a satellite. I got some interesting results when I tried it. Most of you are too young to remember or know anything about the U.S.'s first attempts to launch satellites. The Vanguard and Explorer satellites were spin stabilized. The Explorer launched by a modified Redstone called the Jupiter C was spun up on the launch pad before liftoff. The Vanguard was spun up just before 3rd stage separation. I tried to simulate this and found that in the Vanguard case, the rotator motor seemed to be engaged before liftoff even though I had not yet activated that group. The Explorer was spun up on the pad just as in the real thing. The problem I found is that the rotator motor interferes with the guidance of the Command Capsule. The rocket goes off course. The angular momentum of the motor prevents the gyroscope on the Command Capsule from steering the rocket. This happened in the Vanguard even though the motor should not have been engaged.

Tags
Question

3 Comments

  • Log in to leave a comment
  • Profile image

    @mjdfx150529 @OldCoach lol all my rockets spin out of control anyway

    5.2 years ago
  • Profile image
    514 OldCoach

    I have spin stabilized a satellite to be launched from the cargo bay without any problems. That motor was at right angles to the direction of flight. In the case of the situations I mentioned earlier the motor is in line with the direction of flight.

    5.2 years ago
  • Profile image

    It was never intended for those motors to be used for spin stabilization:p

    +1 5.2 years ago

No Upvotes

Log in in to upvote this post.