RESPONSE OF GRAVITY LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS ON THE GRAVITY PROBE-B SPACECRAFT PROPELLANT SYSTEM

The dynamical behavior of fluids, in particular, the effect of surface tension on partially filled fluids in a rotating dewar under microgravity environment, has been investigated. Results show that there is a group of wave trains, both in longitudinal and transverse modes, with various frequencies and wavelengths of slosh waves generated by the restoring force field of gravity jitters and centrifugal forces in this study. The longest wave periods of slosh waves, either the longitudinal or transverse modes, are responsible for the production of wave modes with the highest ratio of maximum wave amplitude to wavelength. Also, the lower frequency slosh waves are the wave modes with higher wave energy than that of the higher frequency slosh waves.