Problem 6.160
The Pioneer 3 spacecraft was a spin-stabilized spacecraft launched
on December 6, 1958, by the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile agency
in conjunction with NASA. It was designed with a despin mech-
anism consisting of two equal masses
A
and
B
that could be
spooled out to the end of two wires of variable length
`.t/
when
triggered by a hydraulic timer. As a prelude to Probs. 7.95, 7.96,
and 8.114, we will find the velocity and acceleration of each of
the two masses. To do this, assume that masses
A
and
B
are
initially at positions
A0
and
B0
, respectively. After the masses are
released, they begin to unwind symmetrically, and the length of
the cord attaching each mass to the spacecraft of radius
R
is
`.t/
.
Given that the angular velocity of the spacecraft at each instant is
!s.t/
, determine the velocity and acceleration of mass
A
in com-
ponents expressed in the rotating reference frame whose origin is
at
Q
, as well as
R
,
`.t/
, and
!s.t/
. Note that the rotating frame is
always aligned with the unwinding cord, and
Q
is the point on the
cord that is about to unwind at time
t
.Hint: The point
Q
moves
around the periphery of the spacecraft with angular speed
P
and
angular acceleration R
. It is not fixed to the spacecraft.
Photo credit: NASA
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