Attitude Control


attitude control

[′ad·ə‚tüd kən‚trōl] (aerospace engineering) The regulation of the attitude of an aircraft, spacecraft, and so on. A device or system that automatically regulates and corrects attitude, especially of a pilotless vehicle.

Attitude Control

 

control of the angular motion of a spacecraft on free-flight legs—that is, the process of imparting to the craft’s axes a certain position with respect to given directions. Systems that accomplish this task (attitude-control systems) operate under conditions of small disturbing moments that act on the spacecraft. This makes possible the use in such systems of a number of principles and devices that are not used in other spacecraft control systems.