Temperature Distribution in the Spherical Shell of a Gauge-Alignment Spacecraft

Abstract

A thermal model for the aluminized polymer shell of a gauge-alignment spacecraft was developed to calculate the steady-state temperature distribution of this shell at a fixed orientation to the Sun. A modified version of the model was used to analyze the quasistationary distribution of the shell temperature in the case of its rotation with a constant angular velocity about an axis perpendicular the direction to the Sun.