Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Zitzelberger, John.
Several documents in a collection discuss a proposal to use clusters of appropriately phased, relatively small microwave antennas to obta in high levels of effective isotropically radiated power (EIRP) for transmission of data from spacecraft to Earth during exploration of d istant planets.
The results of a trade study comparing the single-antenna approach with the antenna-cluster approach are given, using a cluster of four antennas. The system architecture and the high-EIRP cluster concept are described. Advantages pf the cluster concept over a single antenna include electronic beam steering, reduced antenna mass, higher antenna efficiency, lower point density in the transmit system components, spatial power combing and graceful degradation.