Book Description

The pressure of solar radiation on a spherical balloon satellite is proportional to its cross-sectional area. However, there is evidence to indicate that the PAGEOS satellite has not remained spherical, but is more nearly a prolate spheriod that is rotating about its minor axis. If this is true, the force of solar radiation incident upon its surface must be expressed in terms of the shape of the surface and its orientation to the sun. Furthermore, radiation reflected from the surface of an aspherical balloon will impart an additional force which can be large enough to significantly perturb the orbit. By starting with basic equations for the radiation forces on a flat plate and integrating over the sunlit portion of the surface, exact expressions are obtained for both the incident and reflected radiation forces on a stationary, prolate spheroidal satellite. These expressions are then used to develop power series expansions for the radiation forces on a rotating spheroid.