The Orbital Thermal Loads Interface
The Orbital Thermal Loads (otl) interface (), found under the Heat Transfer>Radiation branch (), is used to model radiative loads on spacecraft, in particular radiation from the Sun and the Earth for satellites orbiting around Earth.
It defines the spacecraft radiative properties, orbit and orientation, orbital maneuvers, and planet properties. These inputs are used to compute and visualize the direct solar radiation, albedo, and planet radiative flux as well as the radiative heat transfer between the different spacecraft parts. It handles thermal radiation based on the radiosity method similarly to The Surface-to-Surface Radiation Interface.
Time Dependent, Orbit Calculation, Orbital Temperature and Orbit Thermal Loads studies are supported in 3D.
In this section:
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Settings for the Orbital Thermal Loads Interface
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Feature Nodes for the Orbital Thermal Loads Interface
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Predefined Functions for the Orbital Thermal Loads Interface
Theory for Orbital Thermal Loads
When Planet properties are set to Earth, the default plots shows the spacecraft orbit around the Earth. The Earth is represented using an image, data:///physics/images/earth.jpg which credits come from
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stöckli (land surface, shallow water, clouds). Enhancements by Robert Simmon (ocean color, compositing, 3D globes, animation). Data and technical support: MODIS Land Group; MODIS Science Data Support Team; MODIS Atmosphere Group; MODIS Ocean Group Additional data: USGS EROS Data Center (topography); USGS Terrestrial Remote Sensing Flagstaff Field Center (Antarctica); Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (city lights).