Re: [amsat-bb] UO-22 news

[Mark Johns <mjohns@xxxxxxx>]

Chris Jackson wrote:

> UO-22 has now entered full sunlight and the temperatures have increased
> considerably.  I have turned the satellite upside down to point the critical
> systems to cold space - a maneuver which takes a couple of days due to the
> gravity gradient boom. . . .

My turn to ask a "stupid" question:   How does one turn a satellite with a
gravity gradient boom "upside down?"  I thought the boom was a passive
stabilization device that kept the boom pointed toward earth at all times.  What
does UO-22 have aboard that counters this, and what keeps the boom from promptly
swinging earthward once again?
--
Mark D. Johns, Cedar Falls, Iowa -- K0MDJ (EN32sm)
              http://pages.cfu.net/~mjohns/index.html
 "Heaven goes by favour.  If it went by merit, you would
    stay out and your dog would go in." -- Mark Twain


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