The Near Spacecraft Telecommunications System

Le résumé fourni par la source

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission, first in NASA's Discovery series, is designed to gather scientific data about the near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros. Due to launch in February 1996, the spacecraft will rendezvous with and eventually orbit the asteroid. The telecommunications system is centered about two redundant X-band transponder systems that provide the command, telemetry, and tracking functions. Although the mission has a very tight development schedule, a significant amount of new technology has been used in the telecommunications system. Included in the design are the most recent developments in transponder hardware, an X-band solid state power amplifier (a deep space "first"), and several microstrip patch antennas. During spacecraft emergencies, a microstrip array antenna becomes an integral part of a unique acquisition algorithm used to find the earth, similar to a search radar concept. To complement the flight hardware development, a comprehensive set of RF ground support equipment (RF GSE) has been developed. Also discussed are areas for potential technology improvements for future missions.

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