Spacecraft Spin Rate Change due to Propellant Redistribution Between Tanks

A bubble trapped in the liquid manifold of INTELSAT IV F-7 spacecraft caused a mass imbalance between the System 1 propellant tanks and a wobble half angle of 0.38 degree to 0.48 degree. A maneuver on May 14, 1980 passed the bubble through the axial jet and allowed propellant to redistribute. A 0.2 rpm change in sin rate was observed with an exponential decay time constant of 6 minutes. In this paper, moment of inertia, tank geometry and hydrodynamic models are derived to match the observed spin rate data. The values of the total mass of propellant considered were 16, 19 and 20 kgs with corresponding mass imbalances of 14.3, 15 and 15.1 Kgs, respectively. The result shows excellent agreement with observed spin rate data but it was necessary to assume a greater mass of hydrazine in the tanks than propellant accounting indicated.