3 ms·
It's a bit like a keel for a (water) ship. You lower it and the gravitational pull on it will be slightly higher down where it is than up where the satellite i
by peterfirefly 4y ago
It's a bit like a keel for a (water) ship. You lower it and the gravitational pull on it will be slightly higher down where it is than up where the satellite is. Or you raise it up above where the satellite is -- same idea.
The "tape measure" is a mass at the end of a tether (the "tape") and they are of course not "literally tape measures".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity-gradient_stabilization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity-gradient_stabilization
- ilyagr 4y agoFascinating, thanks!
- iancmceachern 4y agoThey are literally tape measures. Source: I know engineers at Lockheed martin.. Manufacing that tape is a highly specialized big factory scale production process. It doesn't make sense to build a special tape factory just for the 100 feet of it they need for satalites annually. The tape many of them use is sourced from the same suppliers as tape measures for these reasons.