Effect of the Mass Center Shift for Force-Free Flexible Spacecraft

Deflection profiles of y} and y are shown in Fig. 1 for M -100 kg, 7=490 kN, c = 307 m/sec, a = 226 m/sec, at t = 0.68, 1.02 ane 1.29 sec. At these times the mass positions are * = 52, 118, and 188 m. As shown in Fig. 1, maximum deflection is at the mass location. To determine the adequacy of the simplified mathematical model used in the analyses, the cable deflection at a known position was monitored with a framing camera. A comparison of measured and predicted deflections atx= 122 m is shown in Fig. 2. These data indicated that the predictions of cable motion are reasonably accurate.