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Tidal effects in a spacecraft.

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Title: Tidal effects in a spacecraft.
Authors: Besson, Ugo1 (AUTHOR) ugo.besson@unipv.it
Source: American Journal of Physics. Oct2021, Vol. 89 Issue 10, p909-915. 7p.
Subjects: Tidal forces (Mechanics), Gravitational fields, Stellar orbits, Space vehicles, Weightlessness, Problem solving
Abstract: Within a vehicle in free fall, such as a spacecraft orbiting the Earth, everything appears as if there was no force of gravity: objects float and remain stationary with respect to the walls, a situation commonly described as "weightlessness." In relativity, such a vehicle is considered an inertial reference system. In fact, this is not exactly true because of the non-uniformity of the gravitational field. Tidal effects and forces appear, and complicated motions are generated. This article examines these effects, limiting the use of complicated mathematical formalism in favor of physical reasoning. Two particular cases are treated: a spacecraft that rotates about its center of mass in sync with its orbit, so it always faces the Earth the same way, and a spacecraft that maintains the same orientation with respect to the fixed stars throughout its orbit. The static problem is solved by finding the tidal forces acting on an object at different positions within the spacecraft. The trajectories of objects released from various positions within the spacecraft are then calculated. Some concluding conceptual observations are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of American Journal of Physics is the property of American Institute of Physics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
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Header DbId: egs
DbLabel: Engineering Source
An: 152575996
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Tidal+forces+%28Mechanics%29%22">Tidal forces (Mechanics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gravitational+fields%22">Gravitational fields</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Stellar+orbits%22">Stellar orbits</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Space+vehicles%22">Space vehicles</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Weightlessness%22">Weightlessness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Problem+solving%22">Problem solving</searchLink>
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  Data: Within a vehicle in free fall, such as a spacecraft orbiting the Earth, everything appears as if there was no force of gravity: objects float and remain stationary with respect to the walls, a situation commonly described as "weightlessness." In relativity, such a vehicle is considered an inertial reference system. In fact, this is not exactly true because of the non-uniformity of the gravitational field. Tidal effects and forces appear, and complicated motions are generated. This article examines these effects, limiting the use of complicated mathematical formalism in favor of physical reasoning. Two particular cases are treated: a spacecraft that rotates about its center of mass in sync with its orbit, so it always faces the Earth the same way, and a spacecraft that maintains the same orientation with respect to the fixed stars throughout its orbit. The static problem is solved by finding the tidal forces acting on an object at different positions within the spacecraft. The trajectories of objects released from various positions within the spacecraft are then calculated. Some concluding conceptual observations are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Data: <i>Copyright of American Journal of Physics is the property of American Institute of Physics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1119/10.0005070
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 7
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Tidal forces (Mechanics)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Gravitational fields
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Stellar orbits
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Space vehicles
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Weightlessness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Problem solving
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Tidal effects in a spacecraft.
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              Text: Oct2021
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              Y: 2021
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              Value: 10
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