Why So Many Spacecraft Reaction Wheels Failed

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In the last 20 years it's been surprisingly common for space probes to end missions early because reaction wheels have failed, moreover there's been a large number of failures associated with a specific supplier - Ithaco. A NASA spin off which developed low cost reaction wheel systems that helped bring the cost down for many space missions.
A new study offers some clues as to what might have been going on and why solar weather might be able to damage mechanical systems.
http://esmats.eu/esmatspapers/pastpapers/pdfs/2017/bialke.pdf
BSRsays...

Major photography oversight. Always know your background. Many times you will see people with trees, poles and even the Washington Monument growing out of their heads.

This guy looks like he has a feather sticking out.

Otherwise, a very interesting vid. [thumbs up emoji here]
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On occasion I've played around with "reaction wheels" using a cool 2D physics program called Algodoo that is free for download. Check it out below.

http://www.algodoo.com/

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