Thermal management in hyper-redundant space manipulators

The extreme environmental conditions of low Earth orbit impact the design and control of space manipulators, requiring solutions not found in terrestrial applications. Among these conditions are the thermal and vacuum states of low Earth orbit, which are considered here. System models are offered to track thermal state as various internal and external heat transfer mechanisms act on the system. Sensory requirements for thermal management are proposed, with applications described for on line control and off line trajectory design.