4 ms·

Very interesting, the reaction wheel is obvious but to the gyro is not. I can't see any efficiency problem though, electrical spin-up and spin-down with regene

• mlyle 4y ago
  > I can't see any efficiency problem though, electrical spin-up and spin-down with regenerative braking should reclaim the energy. A lot of uses of reaction wheels requires them to constantly spin because there's been an outside force applied. The wheel mass also tends to be low because it's divided between multiple axes and so speeds of wheels need to be pretty high.
• outworlder 4y ago
  > with regenerative braking should reclaim the energy. Nah. You start braking, you start spinning again. You have to combine that with thrusters, which means you are probably braking pretty quickly.
  • mlyle 4y ago
    If the wheels have not accumulated steady rates from outside forces, you spin a wheel and move while it's spinning. Then you stop the wheel and stop. That was the (trivial) case I'd described that the person you replied to is responding to.