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At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1963

Digital equipment for the antenna pointing system

This paper describes the digital control and data processing portions of the antenna pointing system used to track the Telstar satellite. The description is functional in nature, giving the form of the inputs, the functions performed, and the outputs produced. A general description of the digital equipment is followed by a discussion of the functions performed by the subsystems, the operational modes provided, the equipment features, and the operating experience.

DIRECTIONAL CONTROL↗
NASA NTRS1990

Initial results in the development of a synthetic aperture microwave radiometer

A radiometer that measures the complex correlation of the voltage from pairs of antennas at many different baselines is being developed. Each baseline produces a sample point in the Fourier transform of the scene, and a map of the scene is obtained after all measurements have been made by inverting the transform. A substantial reduction in the antenna collecting area required compared to a conventional imaging radiometer can be obtained in this manner. An aircraft prototype being developed is a hybrid which uses real aperture antennas to obtain resolution along-track (stick antennas) and uses aperture synthesis to obtain resolution across-track. The prototype was flight-tested aboard the NASA P-3 in June 1988. During this flight a map was made of the Delmarva Peninsula south of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. This initial map shows the major land/water features and compares very favorably with a Landsat image of the area, suggesting a bright outlook for the development of this technique in the future.

Le Vine, David M.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Tracking error of 100-m antenna due to wind gust

A procedure is shown to derive root-mean-square tracking error for an antenna system in response to wind gust loading. Example calculations are illustrated for the design of a proposed 100 m antenna. The effect of wind gust correlation is also considered.

Massoudi, M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Wind-induced dynamics of the deep space network antennas

Accurate spacecraft tracking by the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas must be assured during changing weather conditions. Wind disturbances are the main source of tracking errors. This paper presents the development of a wind force model, and simulations of wind-induced pointing errors of DSN antennas. The antenna model includes the antenna structure, the elevation and azimuth servos, and the tracking controller. Simulation results show that pointing errors due to wind gusts are of the same order as due to wind static pressure, and that (similarly to the static wind pressure) these errors satisfy the velocity quadratic law. The methodology presented is used for wind disturbance estimation, and for design of an antenna controller with wind disturbance rejection properties.

Gawronski, W.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Conical-scan tracking with the 64-m-diameter antenna at goldstone

The theory and experimental work which demonstrated the feasibility of conical-scan tracking with a 64 m diameter paraboloid antenna is documented. The purpose of this scheme is to actively track spacecraft and radio sources continuously with an accuracy superior to that obtained by manual correction of the computer driven pointing. The conical-scan implementation gives increased tracking accuracy with X-band spacecraft signals, as demonstrated in the Mariner Venus/Mercury 1973 mission. Also, the high accuracy and ease of measurement with conical-scan tracking allow evaluation of systematic and random antenna tracking errors.

Ohlson, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Spacecraft Doppler tracking with a VLBI antenna

Preliminary results are reported from Doppler-shift measurements to the Voyager-2 spacecraft at a distance of 26 AU, obtained using the 32-m VLBI antenna at Medicina (Italy) during July and August 1988. The apparatus comprises the el-az antenna, an S-X-band receiver, a hydrogen maser to generate the reference signal, a Mark III VLBI terminal, and a digital tone extractor capable of isolating a tone of known frequency from a noisy signal and giving its phase and amplitude. A signal transmitted in S-band from the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) station in Australia and retransmitted coherently in X-band by Voyager, was received 7 h 6 min later at Medicina and at the DSN station in Madrid. Sample data are presented graphically and shown to be of generally high quality; further in-depth analysis is under way.

Comoretto, G.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Comparison of direct and heterodyne detection optical intersatellite communication links

The performance of direct and heterodyne detection optical intersatellite communication links are evaluated and compared. It is shown that the performance of optical links is very sensitive to the pointing and tracking errors at the transmitter and receiver. In the presence of random pointing and tracking errors, optimal antenna gains exist that will minimize the required transmitter power. In addition to limiting the antenna gains, random pointing and tracking errors also impose a power penalty in the link budget. This power penalty is between 1.6 to 3 dB for a direct detection QPPM link, and 3 to 5 dB for a heterodyne QFSK system. For the heterodyne systems, the carrier phase noise presents another major factor of performance degradation that must be considered. In contrast, the loss due to synchronization error is small. The link budgets for direct and heterodyne detection systems are evaluated. It is shown that, for systems with large pointing and tracking errors, the link budget is dominated by the spatial tracking error, and the direct detection system shows a superior performance because it is less sensitive to the spatial tracking error. On the other hand, for systems with small pointing and tracking jitters, the antenna gains are in general limited by the launch cost, and suboptimal antenna gains are often used in practice. In which case, the heterodyne system has a slightly higher power margin because of higher receiver sensitivity.

Chen, C. C.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Advanced spacecraft tracking techniques using the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System /TDRSS/

The TDRSS will consist initially of two geosynchronous satellites and a common ground station at White Sands, New Mexico. According to current schedules, operations are to begin in November 1980. The overall TDRSS will provide high and low bit-rate telemetry, commands, and satellite-to-satellite tracking services. Each Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) will have four antenna systems for NASA use. The common ground station at White Sands will have three 18-meter K-band antennas. The tracking equipment at the ground station is required to meet the following specifications: (1) 0.1-radian root-mean-square (rms) phase noise on nondestruct Doppler measurements; (2) 10-nanosecond rms range noise; (3) 50-nanosecond maximum systematic range error. Attention is given to two-way range and Doppler measurements, the bilateration tracking of TDRS, and an experiment using differenced one-way Doppler measurements.

Teles, J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Predictive Algorithm For Aiming An Antenna

Method of computing control signals to aim antenna based on predictive control-and-estimation algorithm that takes advantage of control inputs. Conceived for controlling antenna in tracking spacecraft and celestial objects, near-future trajectories of which are known. Also useful in enhancing aiming performances of other antennas and instruments that track objects that move along fairly well known paths.

Gawronski, Wodek K.↗