Magnetic dipole moment determination by near-field analysis

Abstract

A method for determining the magnetic moment of a spacecraft from magnetic field data taken in a limited region of space close to the spacecraft. The spacecraft's magnetic field equations are derived from first principles. With measurements of this field restricted to certain points in space, the near-field equations for the spacecraft are derived. These equations are solved for the dipole moment by a least squares procedure. A method by which one can estimate the magnitude of the error in the calculations is also presented. This technique was thoroughly tested on a computer. The test program is described and evaluated, and partial results are presented.