Results for “flight terminal transmitter” — Page 2

NASA NTRS1993

Microwave reflectometer ionization sensor

The development of the Microwave Reflectometer Ionization Sensor (MRIS) Instrument for use on the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE) spacecraft is described. The instrument contract was terminated, due to cancellation of the AFE program, subsequent to testing of an engineering development model. The MRIS, a four-frequency reflectometer, was designed for the detection and location of critical electron density levels in spacecraft reentry plasmas. The instrument would sample the relative magnitude and phase of reflected signals at discrete frequency steps across 4 GHz bandwidths centered at four frequencies: 20, 44, 95, and 140 GHz. The sampled data would be stored for later processing to calculate the distance from the spacecraft surface to the critical electron densities versus time. Four stepped PM CW transmitter receivers were located behind the thermal protection system of the spacecraft with horn antennas radiating and receiving through an insulating tile. Techniques were developed to deal with interference, including multiple reflections and resonance effects, resulting from the antenna configuration and operating environment.

Seals, Joseph↗

NASA NTRS1992

Acquisition and use of Orlando, Florida and Continental Airbus radar flight test data

Westinghouse is developing a lookdown pulse Doppler radar for production as the sensor and processor of a forward looking hazardous windshear detection and avoidance system. A data collection prototype of that product was ready for flight testing in Orlando to encounter low level windshear in corroboration with the FAA-Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR). Airborne real-time processing and display of the hazard factor were demonstrated with TDWR facilitated intercepts and penetrations of over 80 microbursts in a three day period, including microbursts with hazard factors in excess of .16 (with 500 ft. PIREP altitude loss) and the hazard factor display at 6 n.mi. of a visually transparent ('dry') microburst with TDWR corroborated outflow reflectivities of +5 dBz. Range gated Doppler spectrum data was recorded for subsequent development and refinement of hazard factor detection and urban clutter rejection algorithms. Following Orlando, the data collection radar was supplemental type certified for in revenue service on a Continental Airlines Airbus in an automatic and non-interferring basis with its ARINC 708 radar to allow Westinghouse to confirm its understanding of commercial aircraft installation, interface realities, and urban airport clutter. A number of software upgrades, all of which were verified at the Receiver-Transmitter-Processor (RTP) hardware bench with Orlando microburst data to produce desired advanced warning hazard factor detection, included some preliminary loads with automatic (sliding window average hazard factor) detection and annunciation recording. The current (14-APR-92) configured software is free from false and/or nuisance alerts (CAUTIONS, WARNINGS, etc.) for all take-off and landing approaches, under 2500 ft. altitude to weight-on-wheels, into all encountered airports, including Newark (NJ), LAX, Denver, Houston, Cleveland, etc. Using the Orlando data collected on hazardous microbursts, Westinghouse has developed a lookdown pulse Doppler radar product with signal and data processing algorithms which detect realistic microburst hazards and has demonstrated those algorithms produce no false alerts (or nuisance alerts) in urban airport ground moving vehicle (GMTI) and/or clutter environments.

Eide, Michael C.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Range Imaging without Moving Parts

Range-imaging instruments of a type now under development are intended to generate the equivalent of three-dimensional images from measurements of the round-trip times of flight of laser pulses along known directions. These instruments could also provide information on characteristics of targets, including roughnesses and reflectivities of surfaces and optical densities of such semi-solid objects as trees and clouds. Unlike in prior range-imaging instruments based on times of flight along known directions, there would be no moving parts; aiming of the laser beams along the known directions would not be accomplished by mechanical scanning of mirrors, prisms, or other optical components. Instead, aiming would be accomplished by using solid-state devices to switch input and output beams along different fiber-optic paths. Because of the lack of moving parts, these instruments could be extraordinarily reliable, rugged, and long-lasting. An instrument of this type would include an optical transmitter that would send out a laser pulse along a chosen direction to a target. An optical receiver coaligned with the transmitter would measure the temporally varying intensity of laser light reflected from the target to determine the distance and surface characteristics of the target. The transmitter would be a combination of devices for generating precise directional laser illumination. It would include a pulsed laser, the output of which would be coupled into a fiber-optic cable with a fan-out and solid-state optical switches that would enable switching of the laser beam onto one or more optical fibers terminated at known locations in an array on a face at the focal plane of a telescope. The array would be imaged by the telescope onto the target space. The receiver optical system could share the aforementioned telescope with the transmitter or could include a separate telescope aimed in the same direction as that of the transmitting telescope. In either case, light reflected from the target would be focused by the receiver optical system onto an array of optical fibers matching the array in the transmitter. These optical fibers would couple the received light to one or more photodetector( s). Optionally, the receiver could include solid-state optical switches for choosing which optical fiber(s) would couple light to the photodetector(s). This instrument architecture is flexible and can be optimized for a wide variety of applications and levels of performance. For example, it is scalable to any number of pixels and pixel resolutions and is compatible with a variety of ranging and photodetection methodologies, including, for example, ranging by use of modulated (including pulsed and encoded) light signals. The use of fixed arrays of optical fibers to generate controlled illumination patterns would eliminate the mechanical complexity and much of the bulk of optomechanical scanning assemblies. Furthermore, digital control of the selection of the fiber-optic pathways for the transmitted beams could afford capabilities not seen in previous three-dimensional range-imaging systems. Instruments of this type could be specialized for use as, for example, proximity detectors, three-dimensional robotic vision systems, airborne terrain-mapping systems, and inspection systems.

Blair, J. Bryan↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Development of a Ground Multi-Mission Low-Cost Optical Terminal (LCOT) for Free-Space Optical Communications

Once confined to the realm of laboratory experiments and theoretical papers, space-based laser communications (lasercomm) are on the verge of achieving mainstream status. Organizations from Facebook to NASA, and missions from cubesats to Orion are employing lasercomm to achieve gigabit communication speeds at mass and power requirements lower than that of traditional radio frequency (RF) methods. Since first demonstrating free-space optical communications services with Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD) in 2013, NASA has invested in developing optical communications technologies and capabilities to enhancing its space communications networks. Along with evolving optical space terminals, NASA is also developing lasercomm grounds stations capable of meeting the rapidly increasing data volume demands of upcoming missions, from low-earth to lunar orbits and beyond and integrating these advanced capabilities into its Near-Space and Deep Space Networks. To meet this emerging need, the Low-Cost Optical Terminal (LCOT) project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is designing, building and validating a prototype for a flexible, multi-mission, and economical optical ground terminal that could be used as a blueprint for a global network of optical ground stations, capable of supporting a wide variety of missions. To date a major impediment to widespread adoption of laser communication has been the lack of an existing ground network infrastructure. A mission that wishes to take advantage of laser communication not only needs to invest in an optical space terminal, but it must also finance the creation of ground terminals to receive the downlink signal. This adds significant additional cost. Missions that do decide to incur the cost of financing a network of ground terminals end up building highly specialized optical receivers that are operable as receivers for that specific mission only. Significant Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) cost is invested to build highly specialized one-of-a-kind ground terminals that go into storage after that particular mission is over. This is not an economical approach and does nothing to grow the number of optical ground stations available to future missions. In essence each mission that wants to take advantage of the benefits of lasercom has to start from scratch to provide a ground terminal network to support it. As long as this is the case, the cost for using laser communications will be too high for most missions to consider. LCOT intends to close this gap in technology by designing and developing a standard optical ground terminal design that is flexible enough to serve as a receiver for a wide range of future missions – a ground terminal that can be quickly reconfigured to receive downlinks at different wavelengths using different signal formats. Not only does LCOT have the industry-building objectives of utilizing commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components to the maximum extent possible, but also spurs the commercial development of other necessary lasercomm components not currently offered by industry. Finally, LCOT will give NASA scientists and engineers a facility where they can gain real-world experience with optical communications. It will give engineers a cost-effective way to try out new concepts and processes by providing the infrastructure for such testing. In this way it is hoped LCOT will serve as a stimulus for innovation in optical communications and speed its widespread adoption by future missions. The LCOT is comprised of five subsystems: Free-Space Optical, Transceiver, Amplifier, Monitor and Control, and Observatory Infrastructure. In August 2021, the LCOT team installed a 70 cm telescope, developed by Planewave Instruments that was optimized for optical communications. Free-Space Optical subsystem comprises of the telescope and its associated hardware, including a transmitter optical assembly, wide field cameras, two optical benches, and an adaptive optics subsystem. The transmit optical assembly, a unique concept design, is a cluster of four functionally independent transmit subassemblies located on the receive telescope. In addition to receiving optical signals and directing the expanded beam with high precision to the space terminal, it also performs tracking functions. The transmit optical assembly will support operations from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) through lunar and will be used as a template for industry manufacturing. The Optical Infrastructure subsystem is responsible for providing environmentally controlled shelters for LCOT equipment and various other systems. To maintain the safety and proper functionality of the telescope, a 16 ft Astrohaven clamshell dome procured which provides all-sky coverage without the need to rotate the dome. Additionally, Atmospheric Monitoring Assembly (AMA) will be part of optical infrastructure subsystem to ensure accurate performance of the LCOT. Like existing optical ground stations, LCOT will measure standard weather station parameters, infrared all sky image of cloud cover, and cloud height. LCOT, however, adds requirements for measuring night time seeing and, in the future, daytime seeing. Unlike other optical ground terminals, the LCOT is transceiver agnostic; user transceivers may be duplex transceivers, standalone receivers, or standalone transmitters with or without acquisition beacon functionality. As such, the LCOT project accommodates testing with external customer transceivers in a flexible manor, further complimenting its intended multi-mission goals. Another unique component of LCOT is the use of a new amplifier technology – the Very Large Mode Area (VLMA) amplifiers. This new technology allows LCOT to avoid the issues faced by previous laser communications ground terminals, gives users more flexibility and modular capability, and is capable of reaching an order of magnitude higher peak power than traditional High Power Optical Amplifiers (HPOA). One drawback of the VLMA HPOA approach is that the amplified light is output into free-space. The solution developed by LCOT is an optics train that couples the output of the VLMA amplifier into a short fiber for transport to the transmit telescopes with high efficiency. Like many of the LCOT components, a set of detailed manufacturing drawings have been created for the optics train to allow any machine shop with a multi-axis Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine to fabricate the piece parts from commonly available materials. In line with the goals of LCOT, the monitor and control functions are developed as a modular and flexible system with the ability to support future hardware or algorithm changes, minimizing disruptions. A main priority of development in the Monitor and Control Subsystem (MCS) is the safety monitor system.

laser communication↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Development of a Ground Multi-mission Low Cost Optical Terminal(LCOT) for Free-Space Optical Communication

Once confined to the realm of laboratory experiments and theoretical papers, space-based laser communications (lasercomm) are on the verge of achieving mainstream status. Organizations from Facebook to NASA, and missions from cubesats to Orion are employing lasercomm to achieve gigabit communication speeds at mass and power requirements lower than that of traditional radio frequency (RF) methods. Since first demonstrating free-space optical communications services with Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD) in 2013, NASA has invested in developing optical communications technologies and capabilities to enhancing its space communications networks. Along with evolving optical space terminals, NASA is also developing lasercomm grounds stations capable of meeting the rapidly increasing data volume demands of upcoming missions, from low-earth to lunar orbits and beyond and integrating these advanced capabilities into its Near-Space and Deep Space Networks. To meet this emerging need, the Low-Cost Optical Terminal (LCOT) project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is designing, building and validating a prototype for a flexible, multi-mission, and economical optical ground terminal that could be used as a blueprint for a global network of optical ground stations, capable of supporting a wide variety of missions. To date a major impediment to widespread adoption of laser communication has been the lack of an existing ground network infrastructure. A mission that wishes to take advantage of laser communication not only needs to invest in an optical space terminal, but it must also finance the creation of ground terminals to receive the downlink signal. This adds significant additional cost. Missions that do decide to incur the cost of financing a network of ground terminals end up building highly specialized optical receivers that are operable as receivers for that specific mission only. Significant Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) cost is invested to build highly specialized one-of-a-kind ground terminals that go into storage after that particular mission is over. This is not an economical approach and does nothing to grow the number of optical ground stations available to future missions. In essence each mission that wants to take advantage of the benefits of lasercom has to start from scratch to provide a ground terminal network to support it. As long as this is the case, the cost for using laser communications will be too high for most missions to consider. LCOT intends to close this gap in technology by designing and developing a standard optical ground terminal design that is flexible enough to serve as a receiver for a wide range of future missions – a ground terminal that can be quickly reconfigured to receive downlinks at different wavelengths using different signal formats. Not only does LCOT have the industry-building objectives of utilizing commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components to the maximum extent possible, but also spurs the commercial development of other necessary lasercomm components not currently offered by industry. Finally, LCOT will give NASA scientists and engineers a facility where they can gain real-world experience with optical communications. It will give engineers a cost-effective way to try out new concepts and processes by providing the infrastructure for such testing. In this way it is hoped LCOT will serve as a stimulus for innovation in optical communications and speed its widespread adoption by future missions. The LCOT is comprised of five subsystems: Free-Space Optical, Transceiver, Amplifier, Monitor and Control, and Observatory Infrastructure. In August 2021, the LCOT team installed a 70 cm telescope, developed by Planewave Instruments that was optimized for optical communications. Free-Space Optical subsystem comprises of the telescope and its associated hardware, including a transmitter optical assembly, wide field cameras, two optical benches, and an adaptive optics subsystem. The transmit optical assembly, a unique concept design, is a cluster of four functionally independent transmit subassemblies located on the receive telescope. In addition to receiving optical signals and directing the expanded beam with high precision to the space terminal, it also performs tracking functions. The transmit optical assembly will support operations from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) through lunar and will be used as a template for industry manufacturing. The Optical Infrastructure subsystem is responsible for providing environmentally controlled shelters for LCOT equipment and various other systems. To maintain the safety and proper functionality of the telescope, a 16 ft Astrohaven clamshell dome procured which provides all-sky coverage without the need to rotate the dome. Additionally, Atmospheric Monitoring Assembly (AMA) will be part of optical infrastructure subsystem to ensure accurate performance of the LCOT. Like existing optical ground stations, LCOT will measure standard weather station parameters, infrared all sky image of cloud cover, and cloud height. LCOT, however, adds requirements for measuring night time seeing and, in the future, daytime seeing. Unlike other optical ground terminals, the LCOT is transceiver agnostic; user transceivers may be duplex transceivers, standalone receivers, or standalone transmitters with or without acquisition beacon functionality. As such, the LCOT project accommodates testing with external customer transceivers in a flexible manor, further complimenting its intended multi-mission goals. Another unique component of LCOT is the use of a new amplifier technology – the Very Large Mode Area (VLMA) amplifiers. This new technology allows LCOT to avoid the issues faced by previous laser communications ground terminals, gives users more flexibility and modular capability, and is capable of reaching an order of magnitude higher peak power than traditional High Power Optical Amplifiers (HPOA). One drawback of the VLMA HPOA approach is that the amplified light is output into free-space. The solution developed by LCOT is an optics train that couples the output of the VLMA amplifier into a short fiber for transport to the transmit telescopes with high efficiency. Like many of the LCOT components, a set of detailed manufacturing drawings have been created for the optics train to allow any machine shop with a multi-axis Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine to fabricate the piece parts from commonly available materials. In line with the goals of LCOT, the monitor and control functions are developed as a modular and flexible system with the ability to support future hardware or algorithm changes, minimizing disruptions. A main priority of development in the Monitor and Control Subsystem (MCS) is the safety monitor system.

Haleh Safavi↗