Magnetic Support System for a Dual-Spin Space Station

For space environment operations, it is desirable to have some artificial gravity to prevent physiological damage to crew members during a long stay in a zero gravity condition in outer space. Therefore, some gravity is indispensable to maintain crew's health and their task execution capability. From the space utilization viewpoint, on the contrary, microgravity environments should be provided to enable scientists and engineers to carry out their proposed experiments. To realize the above mentioned capabilities, a dual-spin space station, supported by magnetic bearings, which provides artificial gravity and microgravity simultaneously in separate sections, was proposed. The magnetic support system is the main structure of this station, which separates both sections mechanically for vibration isolation and also acts as the main actuator to control the coning motion produced by the gyro effects from the rotating section. This paper shows the design concept for this space station, the formulation of this dynamic model and the results of the parametric evaluations on the magnetic support system.