Historical review of air-bearing spacecraft simulators

An overview of air-bearing spacecraft simulators is provided. Air bearings have been used for satellite attitude determination and control hardware verification and software development for nearly 45 years. It is interesting to consider the history of this technology: how early systems were first devised and what diverse capabilities current systems provide. First a survey is given of planar systems that give a payload freedom to translate and spin. Then several classes of rotational air bearings are discussed: those which simulate three-axis satellite attitude dynamics. The subsequent section discusses perhaps the most interesting facilities: those that provide both translational and three-dimensional rotational freedom. The diverse capabilities each style of air-bearing testbed provides, the many settings they can be found in, and ways to improve facility performance are described.