Patent ID: 7546983

Claim:
A method of acquiring a power-safe state for a wing-stowed spacecraft with one or more exposed solar panels in a spinning transfer orbit, the method comprising: a first rotation phase that includes maintaining a steady spin about a first axis that is substantially orthogonal to a direction that is normal to at least one of the exposed solar panels, sensing panel current from at least one of the exposed solar panels, and if the sensed solar panel peak current does not exceed a threshold current, stopping the first rotation at the peak current of one of the solar panels; entering a second rotation phase; the second rotation phase including maintaining a steady spin about a second axis that is substantially orthogonal to the direction that is normal to at least one of the exposed solar panels, and that is substantially orthogonal to the first axis, and sensing panel current from at least one of the exposed solar panels, and if the sensed solar panel peak current does not exceed a threshold current, stopping the second rotation at the peak current of one of the solar panels, and entering the first rotation phase.