[amsat-bb] ao-40 balance

[r_denis@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Ricardo Denis)]

hi,

just today i was driving around and one of my wheels lost a lead counter 
balance slug...you know, the ones that keep the tires balanced and 
vibration free at speed. well it occured to me that after firing the 400N 
engine on ao-40, at least one of its fuel tanks would become "lighter" (ie 
less massive) because of the fuel spent. since ao-40 is spining, how is the 
satellite kept in a balanced spin after repeated firings so that it doesn't 
wobble and so that the firing of the 400N engine can be accurate? btw, 
who/what applied the initial spin on the satellite, the arianne rocket or 
ao-40 itself? thanks for any info.

73 de rick


Donde esta Ricky? http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?hr2kos-14

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