Scientists May Have Figured Out Why So Many Spacecraft Were Failing
Why Space Exploration Stack Exchange recommends it
Space Stack Exchange users link it as a clear, accessible summary of the research connecting solar weather to reaction wheel failures.
Recommended by 3 people across 2 different months, 2018 to 2020.
What it is
A seven-minute explainer by Scott Manley on why many spacecraft have lost reaction wheels in the past two decades, with many failures tied to wheels made by Ithaco. He walks through a 2017 paper by Bialke and Hansell suggesting solar activity can damage the wheel bearings.
What people said
Strong rec Krish · 2020-05 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “How does “space weather” cause reaction wheel failure?”
This excellent video [this video] by Scott Manley covers reaction wheels in appreciable detail explaining the effects of solar flares on bearings, based on the paper mentioned in @Christopher's answer.
Recommends Geuis · 2018-08 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Why aren't magnetic bearings used more frequently in reaction wheels?”
There’s a very good answer to why all of those reaction wheels have been failing in a new video below. Basically, most of the spacecraft you’re referring to use the same kinds of reaction wheels from the same manufacturer. There’s some new studies that indicate solar activity has been causing damage to the wheels. Ok the plus side, more recent missions use ceramic reaction wheels which seem to be mitigating the problem. [LINK] The notes on Scott Manley's video link to the recent paper A Newly Discovered Branch of the Fault Tree Explaining Systemic Reaction Wheel Failures and Anomalies by William Bialke and Eric Hansell of United Technologies Aerospace Systems, which was published in Proc. ‘E
Recommends user12102 · 2020-05 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “How does “space weather” cause reaction wheel failure?”
Scott Manley's Scientists May Have Figured Out Why So Many Spacecraft Were Failing [this video] may or may not shed some light on this
Cites user12102 · 2018-10 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Why do reaction wheels fail so "frequently"?”
This short answer is meant to highlight the information in its more thorough form within this answer [LINK] . If you find this interesting, read the full answer there , and if you are so inclined to up vote, consider doing it there rather than here. Since this and the other question are somewhat different, and each has good and non-identical answers, I don't see a way to cast either question as a duplicate of the other. [LINK]
Cites user12102 · 2019-12 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “How is Parker Solar Probe so robust against coronal mass ejections?”
Phys.org's Revealing the physics of the Sun with Parker Solar Probe [LINK] quotes "Tim Horbury, a lead researcher on Parker Solar Probe's FIELDS instruments based at Imperial College London" as saying: "Flying close to the Sun, Parker Solar Probe has a unique chance to see young CMEs that haven't been processed from traveling tens of millions of miles," said Kelly Korreck, head of science operations for Parker's SWEAP instruments, based at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. " This was the first time we were able to stick our instruments inside one of these coronal mass ejections that close to the Sun. " When I hear "coronal mass ejections" I think of burne
Cites user12102 · 2020-06 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “How is Parker Solar Probe so robust against coronal mass ejections?”
@honeste_vivere How does “space weather” cause reaction wheel failure? [LINK] and Scott Manley's video Scientists May Have Figured Out Why So Many Spacecraft Were Failing [this video]