The sattelite bus for the KH-11 Spy sattelites uses thrusters for orientation (and has a huge propellant tank) while the Hubble sattelite bus uses several gyroscopes for orientation. They are not as similar as you might think.
The sattelite bus for the KH-11 Spy sattelites uses thrusters for orientation (and has a huge propellant tank) while the Hubble sattelite bus uses several gyroscopes for orientation. They are not as similar as you might think.
schmidtster@lemmy.world 9 months ago
With reaction wheels could they not build up momentum over time to achieve the appropriate spin rate to match earths rotation?
After that it would just be timing and they could also layer multiple images together to work out details in theory.
Oszilloraptor@feddit.de 9 months ago
You cannot spin up gyros indefinitely like e.g. in KSP.
schmidtster@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Why would you need to? What would strip the momentum after it’s built up?
Oszilloraptor@feddit.de 9 months ago
Nothing. It just wouldn’t reach the rotation rate in the first place. (and the camera equipment would be unusable due to the vibrations of the gyros long before it reaches theoretical maximum, as already stated in the video)