Sloshing in space.

• Autores: Govert Schilling
• Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 291, Nº. 2, 2004, págs. 22-23
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The article discusses how the Dutch are sending water into Earth orbit. Carried aloft as a secondary payload by an Ariane 5 rocket in late September, the diminutive Dutch satellite Sloshsat FLEVO will study the sloshing behavior of water in weightlessness for two weeks. Sloshsat FLEVO (Facility for Liquid Experimentation and Verification in Orbit) is a simple satellite. Basically, it is an 80-centimeter cube covered with solar cells and outfitted with small thrusters. Inside the cube is an 87-liter tank filled with 33.5 liters of ultrapure water. Heaters prevent the water from freezing. Using its thrusters, Sloshsat FLEVO is made to shake, rattle and roll. Delicate sensors on the tank walls then measure the sloshing behavior of the water, while sensitive accelerometers gauge the resulting motions of the spacecraft. According to Sloshsat principal investigator Jan Vreeburg, a satellite with sloshing liquid is like a surfboard. Indeed, predicting, anticipating and even using the motions induced by sloshing liquids on spacecraft may someday become routine. Arthur Veldman, computational fluid dynamicist at the University of Groningen, hopes that Sloshsat FLEVO will verify his computer models, which may then be used to gain precise control over satellite motions.