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So cool! Wondering if this technology can be used to control spacecraft attitude or does it require a fixed support? How heavy do the flywheels need to be in re
by dave333 3y ago
So cool! Wondering if this technology can be used to control spacecraft attitude or does it require a fixed support? How heavy do the flywheels need to be in relation to the total weight?
- dutchkiwifruit 3y agoThank you! The weight of each wheel is approximately 220 g, whereas the total weight of the cube including wheels is 1700 g.
- auxym 3y agoAs mentioned in the article, reaction wheels are the standard method used to control satellite attitude.
- glfharris 3y agoTotally does work, lots of spacecraft use reaction wheels to control attitude.
- CaptainOfCoit 3y ago> Wondering if this technology can be used to control spacecraft attitude It can indeed, and is already used in the wild today! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_wheel#Examples_of_spacecraft_using_reaction_wheels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_wheel#Examples_of_spa...
- jessriedel 3y agoThat list has three examples, but to be clear for others: Nearly every satellite has reaction wheels. There are literally tens of thousands of reaction wheels in orbit.
- dave333 3y agoI guess I have watched Apollo 13 too many times and was under the mistaken impression spacecraft still used propellant thrusters for attitude control.
- eternauta3k 3y agoThey still do!
- progman32 3y agoTo add, reaction control is used in conjunction with reaction wheels. When the wheels saturate, the rockets are used to desaturate them.