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At least 1,513 records · Page 84

Tracking and data relay satellite system configuration and tradeoff study. Volume 3: TDRSS configuration and data summary, part 1

A reference handbook of configuration data and design information is presented. It treats the overall system definition, operations and control, and telecommunication service system including link budgets. A brief description of the user transceiver and ground station is presented. A final section includes a summary description of the TDR spacecraft and all the subsystems. The data presented are largely in tabular form for easy reference.

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Tracking and data relay satellite system configuration and tradeoff study. Volume 4: TDRS system operation and control and telecommunications service system, part 1

Major study areas treated in this volume are: 1) operations and control and 2) the telecommunication service system. The TDRS orbit selection, orbital deployment, ground station visibility, sequence of events from launch to final orbit position, and TDRS control center functions required for stationkeeping, repositioning, attitude control, and antenna pointing are briefly treated as part of the operations and control section. The last topic of this section concerns the operations required for efficiently providing the TDRSS user telecommunication services. The discussion treats functions of the GSFC control and data processing facility, ground station, and TDRS control center. The second major portion of this volume deals with the Telecommunication Service System (TSS) which consists of the ground station, TDRS communication equipment and the user transceiver. A summary of the requirements and objectives for the telecommunication services and a brief summary of the TSS capabilities is followed by communication system analysis, signal design, and equipment design. Finally, descriptions of the three TSS elements are presented.

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Tracking and data relay satellite system configuration and tradeoff study. Volume 5: TDRS spacecraft design, part 1

A dual spin stabilized TDR spacecraft design is presented for low data rate (LDR) and medium data rate (MDR) user spacecraft telecommunication relay service. The relay satellite provides command and data return channels for unmanned users together with duplex voice and data communication channels for manned user spacecraft. TDRS/ground links are in the Ku band. Command links are provided at UHF for LDR users and S band for MDR users. Voice communication channels are provided at UHF/VHF for LDR users and at S band for MDR users. The spacecraft is designed for launch on the Delta 2914 with system deployment planned for 1978. This volume contains a description of the overall TDR spacecraft configuration, a detailed description of the spacecraft subsystems, a reliability analysis, and a product effectiveness plan.

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Tracking and data relay satellite system configuration and tradeoff study. Volume 2: System engineering, part 1, final report

All elements of the TDRS system were studied with emphasis on the design of a 3-axis stabilized satellite, and a telecommunication system optimized for support of low and medium data rate user spacecraft constrained to be launched on a Delta 2914. The research is reported to upgrade the spacecraft design to provide telecommunications support low, medium and high data rate users, considering launches with the Atlas/Centaur and the space shuttle. For Vols. 4, 5, 7, and 8, see N74-10809 through N74-10812.

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Optical data processing and projected applications of the ERTS-1 imagery covering the 1973 Mississippi River Valley floods

Flooding along the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries was imaged by the multispectral scanner (MSS) on the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) on at least three orbits during the spring of 1973. The ERTS data provided the first opportunity for mapping the regional extent of flooding at the time the imagery was acquired. Special optical data processing techniques were used to produce a variety of multispectral color composites which enhanced floodplain details. One of these, a two-color composite of near infrared bands 6 and 7, was enlarged and registered to 1:250,0OO-scale topographic maps and used as the basis for preparation of flood image maps. Two specially filtered three-color composites of MSS bands 5, 6, and 7 and 4, 5, and 7 were prepared to aid in the interpretation of the data. The extent of the flooding was vividly depicted on a single image by two-color temporal composites produced on the additive-color viewer using band 7 flood data superimposed on pre-flood band 7 images. On May 24, when the floodwaters at St. Louis receded to bankfull stage, imagery was again obtained by ERTS. Analysis of temporal data composites of the pre-flood and post-flood band 7 images indicate that changes in surface reflectance characteristics caused by the flooding can be delineated, thus making it possible to map the overall area flooded without the necessity of a real-time system to track and image the peak flood waves. Regional planning and disaster relief agencies such as the Corps of Engineers, Office of Emergency Preparedness, Soil Conservation Service, interstate river basin commissions and state agencies, as well as private lending and insurance institutions, have indicated strong potential applications for ERTS image-maps of flood-prone areas.

Morris Deutsch↗

Application of remote sensing to study nearshore circulation

The research to use remote sensing techniques for studying the continental shelf is reported. The studies reported include: (1) nearshore circulation in the vincinity of a natural tidal inlet; (2) identification of indicators of biological activity; (3) remote navigation system for tracking free drifting buoys; (4) experimental design of an estuaring tidal circulation; and (5) Skylab support work.

Zeigler, J.↗

Adaptive sequential estimation with applications

A sequential estimator is presented and demonstrated which successfully tracks the system state and model errors in the presence of significant and unpredictable system or environmental variations. This adaptive estimation concept is shown to lead to a new and attractive approach to parameter identification problems. Simulation results are presented in an orbit determination problem and in a reentry trajectory estimation problem.

Jazwinski, A. H.↗

Experiment definition phase shuttle laboratory LDRL-10.6 experiment

The 10.6 microns laser data relay link (LDRL 10.6) program was directed to applying optical communications to NASA's wideband data transmission requirements through the 1980's. The LDRL consists of a transmitter on one or more low earth orbit satellites with an elliptical orbit satellite receivers. Topics discussed include: update of the LDRL design control table to detail the transmitter optical chain losses and to incorporate the change to a reflective beam pre-expander; continued examination of the link establishment sequence, including its dependence upon spacecraft stability; design of the transmitter pointing and tracking control system; and finalization of the transmitter brassboard optical and mechanical design.

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An ultraviolet video technique for visualization of stack plumes and for measuring sulfur dioxide concentration and effluent velocity

Absorption spectroscopy utilizing a video sensing technique was investigated as a means of visualizing SO2 in power plant stack plumes and for measuring SO2 concentration and effluent velocity in these plumes. The absorption of SO2 is measured in the ultraviolet region by using the sky as a background source. An additional spectral channel is used to correct for particulate scattering encountered in coal fired power plant plumes. The video system also tracks fluctuations in the SO2 concentration which leads to the determination of an eddy convection velocity. Field measurements were performed to show that the eddy convection velocity is proportional to the average in-stack velocity and to empirically determine their relationship. It was concluded that the video absorption technique is an attractive method for remotely determining both SO2 concentration and plume velocity with the same instrument.

Exton, R. J.↗

ORACLS: A system for linear-quadratic-Gaussian control law design

A modern control theory design package (ORACLS) for constructing controllers and optimal filters for systems modeled by linear time-invariant differential or difference equations is described. Numerical linear-algebra procedures are used to implement the linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) methodology of modern control theory. Algorithms are included for computing eigensystems of real matrices, the relative stability of a matrix, factored forms for nonnegative definite matrices, the solutions and least squares approximations to the solutions of certain linear matrix algebraic equations, the controllability properties of a linear time-invariant system, and the steady state covariance matrix of an open-loop stable system forced by white noise. Subroutines are provided for solving both the continuous and discrete optimal linear regulator problems with noise free measurements and the sampled-data optimal linear regulator problem. For measurement noise, duality theory and the optimal regulator algorithms are used to solve the continuous and discrete Kalman-Bucy filter problems. Subroutines are also included which give control laws causing the output of a system to track the output of a prescribed model.

Armstrong, E. S.↗

Installation package for concentrating solar collector panels

The concentrating solar collector panels comprise a complete package array consisting of collector panels using modified Fresnel prismatic lenses for a 10 to 1 concentrating ratio, supporting framework, fluid manifolding and tracking drive system, and unassembled components for field erection.

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On achieving sufficient dual station range accuracy for deep space navigation at zero declination

Since the Voyager Mission will encounter Saturn at a time when the planet will be nearly in the earth's equatorial plane, earth-based orbit determination will be more difficult than usual because of the so-called zero-declination singularity associated with conventional radiometric observations. Simulation studies show that in order to meet the required delivery accuracy at Saturn, a relative range measurement between the Goldstone and Canberra Deep Space Stations must be accurate to 4.5 times the square root of two meters. Topics discussed include the nature of error sources, the methodology and technology required for calibration, the verification process concerning the nearly simultaneous range capability, a description of the ranging system, and tracking strategy.

Siegel, H. L.↗