ELECTRONIC ANALOG SIMULATION OF SATELLITE THERMAL AND POWER SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS

Those parameters are determined in the thermal and power system design that adversely affect the operation of the charge regulator system of an orbiting satellite. Because of the extensive systems evaluation which was required to obtain this objective, a major out-growth of this study was the generation of an electronic analog method of satellite performance simulation which may be applied to both satellite systems design and orbital evaluation. Initially simple models of the charge regulator system were chosed for analytical evaluation by hand and digital computer calculations. These methods were found to be inadequate due to both the simplicity of assumed models and the length of time required for calculations. A description is presented of the satellite design characteristics which were simulated, the method of simulation and the results of a parametric study of satellite operation under various conditions.