Guidance, Navigation and Control · Spacecraft and Rocket GNC · M11-L1 · Advanced
Detumble and Point
Bench log · Hopper on the test range
02:15. A small satellite was released from its dispenser spinning at 20 degrees per second, and the operators have been told to stop it with the reaction wheels because the thrusters are reserved for later. The wheels run to their limit within seconds and the satellite is still turning.
You will find what can stop it, write the feedback law for the pointing slew, and write the unloading law that keeps the wheels working for the rest of the mission.
Your task
Lab complete: post-mortem
You have passed every stage. Now connect it back to the theory and move on:
Output
What Python can I use?
Plain Python 3 with the standard library and the course library gnckit (import gnckit as g: transfer functions and margins, state space and LQR, the Hopper model, quaternions, a convex solver). NumPy is not available in the browser. Your code runs in a background worker: an endless loop is stopped after a few seconds and the page stays usable. It runs in your browser and is never sent anywhere.