[AR] Re: Cubesats orbital grenades ?
- From: Norman Yarvin <yarvin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:51:04 -0500
On Wed, Dec 13, 2017 at 04:23:56PM -0500, Henry Spencer wrote:
I wrote:
... a balloon will get punctured quickly by micrometeorites. An
inflatable drag brake needs to rigidize itself somehow...
Or, of course, don't make it inflatable. For an example of a 3U cubesat
with a drag brake, check out <https://www.utias-sfl.net/?p=2644>. (Those
dragsails are really designed for deorbiting more sizable nanosats from
higher orbits; using a 3U at medium altitude was just an expedient way to
do a cheap in-space test/demo.)
Looking at the photo, each of the four sails seems to be anchored at
three points: the satellite, plus the other two corners, each of which
has a rod going out to it. I'm guessing the rods are made of
something quite flexible, are stored coiled up, and that all that has
to be done to deploy each sail is to release the rods' ends and let
them pull the sail out and unfold it. (The coiled rods would be
mounted on a bearing for this.)
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