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Lageos orbit decay due to infrared radiation from earth
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Rubincam, David Parry |
| Copyright Year | 1987 |
| Description | Infrared radiation from the Earth may be the principal reason for the decay of Lageos' orbit. The radiation heats up the laser retroreflectors embedded in Lageos' aluminum surface. This creates a north-south temperature gradient on the satellite. The gradient in turn causes a force to be exerted on Lageos because of recoil from photons leaving its surface. The delayed heating of the retroreflectors due to their thermal inertia gives the force a net along-track component which always acts like drag. A simple thermal model for the retroreflectors indicates that this thermal drag accounts for about half the observed average along-track acceleration of -3.3 x 10 to the -10 power m/sec squared. The contribution from the aluminum surface to this effect is negligible. The infrared effect cannot explain the large observed fluctuations in drag which occur mainly when the orbit intersects the Earth's shadow. |
| File Size | 793848 |
| Page Count | 18 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_19870006232 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t6m090q1b |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 1987-01-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Geophysics Lageos Satellite Drag Aluminum Retroreflection Temperature Effects Temperature Gradients Orbit Decay Surface Properties Infrared Radiation Inertia Laser Range Finders Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
