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Hunter, J. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Hunter, J. A..

8 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

NASA tracking and data acquisition in the 1990s - High earth orbit and planetary spacecraft support

It is pointed out that during the decade of the 1980's the Deep Space Network (DSN) and the ground stations of the Ground Spaceflight Tracking Data Network (GSTDN) will have been consolidated into one ground-based network to provide services for tracking and data acquisition for NASA deep space probes and highly elliptical earth orbiters. The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) will have been implemented to handle low earth orbiters. Anticipated solar system exploration missions of the 1990's are discussed, and a description is presented of the new tracking and data acquisition requirements for supporting these missions. The technology options needed to meet these new requirements are identified, and the impact of these technology options on the consolidated DSN is discussed. Attention is given to the evolution of the DSN of the 1980's into the DSN of the year 2000.

Smith, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Shuttle remote manipulator system hardware test facility

The shuttle remote manipulator (RMS) is designed and built for operations in a zero gravity environment. As such, the ground test facility for the integrated RMS must simulate conditions which support verification of the overall system performance. In order to allow ground test operations, a test facility was constructed with an area of 60 ft. x 120 ft. and extremely tight tolerances on floor flatness and slope. An air bearing support structure was designed for the RMS to operate with 4 degrees of freedom. The RMS system test facility and systems tests conducted to date are described.

Wagner-Bartak, C. G.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Orbiting Deep Space Relay Station (ODSRS). Volume 1: Requirement determination

The deep space communications requirements of the post-1985 time frame are described and the orbiting deep space relay station (ODSRS) is presented as an option for meeting these requirements. Under current conditions, the ODSRS is not yet cost competitive with Earth based stations to increase DSN telemetry performance, but has significant advantages over a ground station, and these are sufficient to maintain it as a future option. These advantages include: the ability to track a spacecraft 24 hours per day with ground stations located only in the USA; the ability to operate at higher frequencies that would be attenuated by Earth's atmosphere; and the potential for building very large structures without the constraints of Earth's gravity.

Hunter, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

The orbiting deep space relay station - A study report

This paper is an interim report on a study being carried out to assess the requirements for tracking and communications with deep-space probes in the post-1985 time frame and to evaluate approaches to meeting those requirements. The orbiting deep-space relay station (ODSRS) is one approach to meeting those requirements that appears to have some significant advantages over ground-based stations. A detailed conceptual design of an ODSRS is compared with other tracking and communications system configuration options. The comparison includes a life-cycle cost analysis as well as operations and performance capabilities. Reported results of the study to date include a preliminary assessment of post-1985 requirements, a discussion of planned ODSRS system capabilities as well as of tracking and communications system advantages and problems that are peculiar to an OSDRS, a look at the current status of the conceptual design of the ODSRS, and a summary of the plan for the remainder of the study.

Hunter, J. A.↗