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by jcims 1710 days ago
Just adding it because I think it's a cool use of the word. When reaction wheels are operating at maximum speed and can no longer exchange momentum with the spacecraft in both directions, they are considered 'saturated'.
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'Saturated' is used in control systems engineering for any value (sensor input, drive output etc.) that has reached maximum or minimum value and can't be further increased/decreased. It's the same sense of the word as used in the HSV colour space in computer graphics.