The Observatory Generation of Satellites

NASA SP-30
/'i/d_ -/._ '/_/- //A<'7:Y/
THE
OBSERVATORY
GENERATION
OF SATELLITES
L
°
- ... .
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

%
/
j
#
j_
NASA SP-30
-j' i
THE
OBSERVATORY
GENERATION
OF SATELLITES
Session II of a Special Astronautics Symposium held at the
Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, December 27, 1962, during
the 129th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science
Prepared by Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
MARCH
O_ice of Scientific and Technical Information 1963

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Washington, D.C.
For aale by the Superintendent of Document_, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D.C. - Price 50 cent8
FOREWORD
The American Astronautical Society held its second annual regional meet-
ing as part of the 129th meet, ing of the American A_ociation for the Adv,_nce,-
ment of Science in Philadelphi,% Pennsylvania, December 1962. The six
papers presented herein comprised Session II of the Special Astron_ut.ies
Symposium, "Scientific S,_tellites--Mission and Design," on December 27,
1962.
The ch,_irm,_n of Session II, "The Obsera,,_tory Genera.tion of Satellites,"
was Dr. John W. Town_nd, Assist_mt Director for Spa_e Science ,_nd S_tel-
lite Operations, NASA Godd,_rd Space Flight Center. The papers are printed
in the order of presentation a.t, the meeting, and it is hoped that the rea.der will
find material of interest in all of them.
Technical Informa, tion Division
Godds, rd Space Flight Cealter

Greenbelt, M_rylamd
iii
CONTENTS
PAGE
Foreword ............................................................... iii
1. THE MISSION OF THE ORBITIN(_ GEOPItYSICAL OBSERVATORIES___ 1

WlL_e,.m_ E. SCtJLL
2. THE ENGINEERING DESIGN ()F THE ORBITING GEOPHYSICAL

OBSERVATORIES ......................................... 11
GEORGE E. GLEGHORN
3. THE MISSION OF THE A1)VANCEI) ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY_ 25

Jon_ C. LINDSAY
4. ONE APPROACH TO THE ENGINEERING DESIGN OF THE ADVANCED

ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY .................................. 31
ADOLPH J. CERVENKA
5. THE MISSION OF THE ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY__ 45

ROBERT :R. ZIEMER and JAMES E. KUPPERIAN, JR.
6. THE ENGINEERING DESIGN OF THE ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL

OBSERVATORY ................................................... 53
WALTER H. SCOTT
THE MISSION OF THE
ORBITING GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATORIES
by
WILFRED E. SCULL*
__ '/ Goddard Space Flight Center
The Orbiting Geophysical Observatories program terns of experiments and basic spacecraft
has two objectives. The primary objective is to con- subsystems, with resultant difficulties in dis-
duct large numbers of significant, diversified experi-
assembly and repair or replacement of assem-
ments for making scientific m_d technological meas-
lilies if discrepancies occurred during checkout
urements within the earth's atmosphere, the magneto-
sphere, and cishmar space to obtain a better under- or testing. These early spacecraft weighed 3
standing of earth-sun relations and of the earth as a to 40 pounds, carried experiments that were
l)lanet. A sr',:'om'lary ¢,,bj,_'(:tir,:' is to design, develop, largely exploratory in nature, and were inte-
and have available for laun('hing at regular intervals
grated so closely with the spacecraft that it
a standard observatory-type oriented spacecraft con-
was hard to differentiate between experiment
sisting of a l)asi(, system design that can be used re-
peatedly to carry large numbers of easily integrated instrulnentation and sI)acecraft subsystems.
experiments in a wide variety of orbits. As a designl Examples of these early spacecraft are: Ex-
objective for the standard space(.raft, it is desired th'lt plorers I, III, and IV; Vanguards I and II;
the spacecraft be (.apaMe [>f reliaMe operation for a and Pioneers III and IV.t
period up to one year in a wide variety of orbits from
near-earth cir(.ular to highly elliptical cislunar. The ,ks launch vehicles became more powerful,
current program consists of two missions: the Eccen- heavier sl)acecraft carrying from several to a
tri(' Orbiting Geolfl_ysi(,al Observatory (I;,'GO), which dozen major experiments evolved. Experi-
will be laun(.hed from the Atlantic Missile Range in
ments on these spacecraft were designed largely
late 1963 : "lnd the Polar ()rbiting Ge_q)hysi(.al ()b_rva-
to investigate in more detail the phenomena
tory (POGO), whi(,h will be launched in early 1964
from the Pacific Missile Range. c,rudely surveyed--in some cases, discovered--
by the experiments in earlier spacecraft. These
INTRODUCTION heavier spacecraft could be divided into sub-
systems, lint it was still necessary to employ a
The National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
high degree of integration of experiments and
ministral ion is engaged in _t diversified I_search
Sl)acem'aft subsystems to utilize all of the lim-
l)rogram (o acquire geophysical data relative
ited ]aun('h vehicle capability. The spacecruft
t o phenomena in terrestrial and extraterrestria]
were basically systems for single missions in
space. Experinlental data in these l)rograms
thai considerable mechanical, electrical, and
have l)een obtained from spa('ecr'tft launched
by a series of increasingly powerful launch ve- thermal redesign and rebuilding were necessary
hicles with the nature, scope, weight, number, to fly a different set of exI)eriments in a space-
_md degree of intent'it(on of experiments lim- craft of the same basic design. Examples of
ited 1.u'gely by the l)ayload capacity of the this class of sI)acecraft are : Explorers VI, VII,
vehicles. These weight limitations caused
(Explorers I. III, and IV (19YkRal, 1958¥1, 1._58el1
early sl)acecraft to t)e (i/htly integrated sys- and V.mguard I (195_fl2) were launched I)y other gov-
ernment agencies. Vanguard II (195.%1) and Pio-
*OGO lh'oje('t Manager. G.ddard SlmVe Flight neers III "lnd IV (195801 and 195',_v) were launched by
(,enter. NASA.
THE OBSERVATORY GENERATION OF SATELLITES
VIII, X, XI, and XII; and Pioneers I, II, 3. A thermal control subsystem to maintahl
and V.* temperatures of the as_mblies and experiments
Both of these types of spacecraft will con- within a desired operating range.
tinue to play a role in the sI)aee _'iences program 4. A po_cer s_zpply to supply electrical power
for a nmnber of years. They will be used to to the experiments and other subsystmns.
carry small numbers of somewhat si)ecialized 5. a co_t_, _l_dcat/ons and d(m_ handling sub-
experiments into orbits that precisely meet their system to 1)rovide a degree of spacecraft control
requirements. from the ground, to prepare and store experi-
The ob._rvatories are third-generation re- mental a.nd spacecraft ol)erat tonal data, a.nd t*)
search spacecraft. These spacecraft, which transmit these data to the ground.
make 1)(rssible the conduct of larffe numl)ers of The advantages that at)l)ear inhet'ent in the
exl)eriments to investigate geol)hysical phe- concept of a. standardized ol)_rvato W include
nomena in st ill more detail, resulted from the the following :
concept of sl)ace('raft as standardized eoni aiuers 1. Capability of accommodating a large
or carriers for experiments. For 'the ot>_,rva- number of experimenls per mission and of pof
tortes, more coml)lex experinlents ('_m be de- forming frequent missions. The frequent mis-
signed to investigate indepen(lently the various sions and large umnber of experiments that may
parameters of a l)henomenon and to search for be directly or indirectly related will allow
new phenomena, that are more difih'ult to detect. study and correlation of many I)henome.na _t,
In addition, because of the inct, asing payload the same time and s'une point in space. For
weight eal)ability of the launch vehicles, i_t was example, it will be possible to study simulta-
l)(_sil)le to think of exl)eriments and spaeecr'tft neously the relation between solar events, the
subsystems as sel)arate lmrtions of the same solar l)laslna, the earth's radiat ion belt, and the
system, with the capal)ility existing to integrate earlh's at]nospheric st rueture.
any of tim sul)systems into the entire system. 2. Provision of an attitude eontrol subsystem
From this background, the ot),_rr,'ator!/con('ept iO contro] the orielll a! ions of exl)eriments wi'th
was developed. respect to sever.ll different references.
The concept of a.n ot)servalol T allowed con- 3. Convenience to the experimenter in de-
sideration of a standard spa(,eraft--standard siffning his inslrumcntalion by l)roviding a
in the sen_, of incorporating a high degree well-detined interface between the spacecraft
of flexibility for accommodating many tyl)es of sul)systems and the experimeuts, therel>y allow-
scientitic and technological experiments and ing each experimenter to integrate his instm>
of operat, ing up to one year in a wide range of ments with a minimunl of effort.
orbits. In this manner, it would not be neces- 4. Improved reliability through repeated use
sary to design and develop a new spacecraft for a.nd ('onstanl stepwise improvemen_t of a basic
e_wh mission : instead, a Sl)a.cecraft of the same design of spa('v('raf! in follow-on missions.
design with only minor nmdifications could be 5. Provision of conservatively designed
used on suece._ive missions to carry different power, data h'mdlinff, and thermal control sub-
eombim_tions of experiments. In addition, the systems for experiments, thereby allowin_ ex-
observal(n T could I)o considered in terms of live treme flexibility in their design.
individual subsystems:
6. Advantage of I_,ing able to handle a lim-
1. The b¢_ie str_ct_lre of the spacecraft, with-
ited number of relatively "high risk" experi-
in which the assemblies of other subsystems anti
ments late in the program. 'rhe_ exl)erimen_s
experiments would be mounted.
will rel)re:_nt a small i)ereentage of the total
2. An atNt,ude control subsystem for orient-
exl>eriment s.
ing the spacecraft prol)erly to fulfill the dire('-
7. Improved operati<m'd efficiency through
t.ional requirements of various experiments.
lhe continued evolution and use of a ground
* Exl)lorers VI, VII, VIII. X. XI. and XII arc, reslX,('- st alion net work, (}per'at ing l)roeedures, and data
tively designated 1.95981, 1959L1, 1.(_;0_1, 1.(R;IK, 1.(R;lvl,
and 1961vl : l'i(meers I _11111V 'trp |95_-q and I.(HR)a. l)rocessi ng equipnmnl and te<;hniques.
MISSION OF ORBITING GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATORIES
8. Reduced cost of follow-on missions, on an (E(}O), will t_ launched by an A,tlas Agena B

in late 1963 from the Atlantic Missile Range
exl)erinwn(-pound t)asis, since (tevel(>l)nmnt of a
in(o a highly eccentric ort)it of apl)roxima(ely
new spacecraft for each mission will 1)e avoided.
9. Simplified data acquisi( ion and data reduc- 31 degrees inclination. Its orbit will have a
tion. since tracking and data re(hwtion equip- nominal perigee and al)ogee of 150 and 60,000
merit will 1)e mat(.hed to a fewer mmlber ()f nauti('al miles respectively. This orbit will al-
(lifferen! sl)a('e('raft designs. low (he ol)servatory to traverse the radiation

A remitter of ol)servalories are being devel- I)eh s twice each orbital period and to nmke geo-
ol)ed for lhe NASA seient ific research 1)rogram. 1)hysica] nmas||ren_enls front the region near
These slxacecraft include the Orbiting Geol>hys- the earth to interl)lanetary space. The orbital
i('a] ()t)_wvatory (()G()), the Ort)itin/ As- period of E(?r() will t)e alton( 4'2.8 hom,'s. A
tronomical Ob_rvatory (()A()), the Orbiting "l)ackul)" E(I() is also scheduled in the event of
Sol ar ( )l)servatory ( ()SO), (he Ran_er, and the a ('atasl rophic or early f:dlure of the first LG( .
Mariner. The tirst thre_a obse|'vatorie.s are The l>ohtJ ' Orbit/_g (/eophys_eal Obser_,ato*:q
being developed as a part of the earth satellite (])()GO) will t)e the second flight mission in the
program of NASA's Goddard Space Flight program. I)OGO will be, launched into a polar
('enter. The Ranger and ,Mariner are l)eing de- orbit in early 1964. Launching will o.uc[l|' with
veloped its part of tim hmar and pla||eta| T pro- a Thor Agena I) from the Pacific Missile Range.
gram of the Jet l)rotmlsion Lat)oratory. The I'()GO oft)it, with perigeo and apogee of
140 and 500 |muli('al miles resl)ectively, will
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES allow delerminalion of the ionosl)here's char-
The t,';ma,'y ohjeelh,e of the ()rbiting Geo- a('/erisli('s over ranges in latitude and altitude.
physical ()b_rvatories (OG()) program, which a||d the ohservation of nutny 1)henome|m di-
is a part of the national sl)ace sciences long- reel 1v over the polar regions.
r'mge 1)rogram, is It) conduct large numl)ers of ()verall weigh( of the observatories will be
significant, diversified exl)eI'iments for making al)proximalely 1000 l)ounds, of which 150
scient ific and t ethnological measurements with- 1)omMs will be experiments and their ass(x'iqted
in the earth's atmosphere, the magmetosphere, equipment.
and. cishmar space 1o obtain a l_l:ter under- Within the capacity of htunch vehicles, fu-
standing of earlh-st||l rehtt ions and of (he earth ture geophysical ol)servatories will be assi_le(t
as a phmet. A se(,o_,dary objective of the pro- to Sl)ecific m'l)its as required by the exl)eriments.
gram is 1o design, develop, and have available In addition, advanced versions of the space-
for lamwhing al regular intervals a standard c|'aft design may have in('rea_d weight carry-
observal ory-tyl)e oriented sl)a('e<'ra f( c(msis( ing ing ('almt)ilities or may 1_ launched into higher
of a I)asic system design thai can be used re- orbit s as launch vehicles of increased capability
i)eatedly to carry large numbers of easily inte- are developed. The present OGO spacecraft is
grated experiments in a wide 7¢ariety of orbils. designed with a growth potential such that it
As a de.sign objective for the standard space- can lm expanded to an observatory of 1500
craft, it ix desired that lhe Sl)a('ecrafl t)e ca- pounds. Most of the increase in weight, will be
I)Mde of relial)le operation for it 1)eriod u 1) to available for exi)eriments. Included in the
one year in a wide variety of orl)ils from near- growth potential may l)e the capability of eltr-
earth circular 1o highly elliptical ('ishmar.
vying and sel)arating in orl)it a 300-pound pick-
l)m'ing orl)i'tal operation, it is desired that l)of
al)aek satellite to l)erfomn exl)eriments requiring
lions of the Sl)acecraft be oriented loward and
an especially "l)ure "" enviromnen( or experi-
away from the earth an(1 the sun, and forward
ments thai need large separations between two
and aft in tim, orbital 1throe.
The current ()GO program consists of two of their parts.
,lifferent flight mis.sions. The tivsr mission, the Experinle)_ts anti('il)ated for the OG()'s in-
k'e('¢',_tr;(' O_'biN,9 (;eOl_hy._ia,d Ob,_.el'_,ator!t elude, the followin_ general types.
1. Magnetic Fields--The magnitude, direc- DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

tion, and variations of the earth's magnetic
The concel)t of a standardized observatory
field and of interplanetary space will be
capable of operating in many types of orbits
itlvestigated. and carrying many different kinds of exl)eri-
2. Energetic Particles--The comt)osition,
ments exerted a significant influence on the de-
flux, directional characteristics, temporal varia-
sign requirements of ()G(). For exami)le _ the
lions, and energy spectrmn of ehergetic t)ar -
various experiments that required pointing in
t icles (i.e., electrons, protons, gamma rays, el c.)
geocentric and anti-geo('entric, solar an(l anti-
incident on the earth froxn outer space or
solar, and <)t'l)it,t] an(t contra-orbital directions
trapped in the earth's vicinity will be studied.
implied 5 degrees of freedom of the spacecraft.
3. Dust--The eomposition, flux, and energT
hi addition, experiments that might be affe(,ted
spectrum of interphmetary dust in the earth's
by disturbances generated in the main lx)dy of
vicinity will be investigated. the spacecraft impo_,d the requirement of
4. A tmospheric St_ueture--The pressure,
being mounted at various distances from the
temperature, composition, and density of the
main body of the space, raft. These experi-
terrestrial and cishmar atmospheres will be
ments included magnetic fieht experiments,
studied.
whose accuracies would be affected by the small
5. Ionosphere--Electron and ion densities amount of ferromagnetic material that wouhl
and temperatures, and ion composition from
be used in the si)aeecraft subsystems and by the
near the earth to interplanetary sl)aee , includ-
magnetic fields produced by ineoml)letely can-
ing the effect of charged l)artMes on the propa- celled electric currents. Other experiments that
gation of radio waves, will l)e investigated. require mounting away from tim spacecraft's
6. ,X'olar l'hy,+ie._.--Solar monitors in the
main body included the following: experilnents
ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma ray regions will
whose results would be influenced by the pres-
t)e used in correlation with other measurements
ence of a large mass nearby; experiments to
to understand l)ro('es._s on the sun and their
measure the properties of the ionosphere and
effects on the earth.
which required minimization of the effects of
7. A._trot_omy--Survey measurements in the
the l)lasnm sheath and electrostatic potential;
ultraviolet, x-ray, galnnla ray, and vet')" low
and experiments designed to nleasure proper-
frequency regions of the spectrum will be made.
ties of the atmosphere and which might be in-
8. Meteorolog!/--OI)servations of the earth
fluenced by small anlounts of gas evolved from
will I)e made wit h the aim of better understand-
the sul)systems or carried front one point to
ing the causes of "weather."
another in space by senti-closed tr'lpping
9. Pl,rnehwy 7'exts--lnstl'unmnts to measure vohlnles.
properties of l)lanetary sttrfaces and environs
The 5 degrees of freedom necessary to accom-
from l)]anetary sl)a('ecraft will lye tested on
modate the dire('tional requirements of the ex-
these ul)sevwttories.
periments iml)/ied an active (ttti/_tde eo_trol
10. J[;xeell, meoux--Experimental observa-
system cal)at)le of re(ltwinff transients iml)<)sed
it(ms <)f stt('h things as night airglow radiations,
dm'ing orbital injection and separation of the
auroral radiations, vehicle charge, electric
observatory from the ]annch vehicle; of effi-
liehls, etc. will be conducted.
ciently acquiring the sun, earth, and the orbital
11. Technolog;val--Tests of power supply,
plane during the initial sequence; of reacquir-
thermal control, st rttctural bearings, mechani-
ing these references for a limited number of
cal and electronic ('omponents, etc. may be
('ondueted. times if any of the sensors lost its reference;
12. Bioloqieal--'l'est to estal)lish the behavior and of controlling the observatory <luring nor-
of various forms of life in a space environment mal orbital operations. I)esired i)ointing accu-
may be made. racies during orbital ol)eration were as follows.
Geocentric +_ 2 degrees 3. Prototype and flight instrunientation must

_olar 4-5 degrees, except it could be be fabricated.
± 20 degrees within 30 degrees of the noon
4. Experinients must be tested to determine
condition
their ability to withstand and operate under
Orbital ___5 degrees (POGO)
+--5 degrees (EGO), when the nngular environmental conditions imposed by the launch
orbital rates of EGO equaled or and orbital environments.
exceeded the rates of POGO
5. Experimenls must be integrated into the
A thermal co_trol subsystem was necessary to spacecraft, and the spacecraft-experiment
maintain the temperatures of as_mlilies within coml)ination nmst be operated as a coniplete
the sI)ace('raft's niain body in the range of 5 ° observatory system, including calibration of
io 35 ° (' and the ten iperatures of .tsseniblies experhnents and environment,tl testing of the
separated from the spacecraft's main I)ody in ol)servatory.
the range <if 0 ° to 40 ° C. After completion o£ these steps and following
A pomer xupldy sul)system cal>'d)le of supl>ly- successful launch of the observato_', ilia experi-
ing 50 watts of cnntimmus average power for menter lnus_ consider the following events:
exl>eriments , pins the power for other sul)sys- 1. Operation of his experiment in orbit as a
terns of (.lie spacecraft, wits necessary. This l)art of the ob_rvaiory, and recovery of experi-
'tverage power for experinients consisted of 40 mental data.
waits continuous aver.lge power plus an addi- 2. Processing the experilnental data into u
tional 40 watts on a 25 percent duty cycle. form suitable for analysis.
A eommunieat;on,_ and data handling sub- ,3. Analysis of the data, and pul)lication of
system was necessary to provide the following results.
functions for a large nuniber of experiments: 4. Feedback of inforniation ol)iained during
1. Process, store, and telemeter ex1)eriniental each of these steps and from other programs
and spacecraft data. into the initial phases of prel)aration for tim
2. Receive, decode, and execute ground com- next observatory.
niands. Experiments proposed for inchlsion in the
3. Radiate an RF signal that would enable NASA Space Science 1)rograni at_ filet, sub-
aecurata deterlnillal ion (if orbits. milled to the Dire(.tor of the ()glee of Space
Sciences, NASA Ileadquartei's, V(ashington,
4. Internally prograln the data handling sliD-
D.(L Normally, this office supports initial de-
sysienl "ind any hiff]i-power eiperillieliLs Oil
velopment of worthy experinienial l e_'liiiiques
spacecraft having special progralllnlers.
to deterinine their suitability for inclusion in
5. Genenlte both coded and un('oded timing
lhe flight prograin. At al)prol)riaie times, the
signals for use in lhe exl)erinients and the space-
Office (if Sl)a(,e Sciences selects experiments
craft subsystenis.
and exI)el'illlelliers for particular flight pro-
EXPERIMENTS grains. This process has been completed al-
ready for the EGO and PEG() missions. Ex-
nxperinlelits for the OGO's may (_oiiie from lierinienis selected for EGO and lieGe are
Illally sou rces--un i veisii ies, goverlllllellt re- shown in Tal)les 1-1 and 1-2. :ks indicated
search agellcies, NASA, and ilidllsiry. Re.-
in these tables and as may have been inferred
gardless of the SOllr(>e_all experillielits will un- froni the orbital l)aranieters of EGO, it large
dergo it series of steps to l_e fitted into the eGO
manlier of the EGO experinients are in the cat-
sl)a('eera ft : egory of fields alid energetic l)arlicles. Like-
1. Exl)eriniental techniques must lie (level- wise, nialiy of the experilnents lisle<l for
oped to determine suitability (ff such techniques e()(]() are in ilia calegol'y (if atlnospheric alld
for use hi the sl)aee t)rograni. ionosl)heri(; investigations. However, POGO
2. lq]xperinienis niust lie selected for each niis- will also carry several fields and particles
sion. experinlents.
5
TABLE 1-1
EGO Experiments a.nd Experimenters
I
ExDprim('nl 'l'ilh' PrJnciDal Experilllontt_r PhenorllellOll Observed
Solar proton and x-ray flux,

Solar Cosmic Rays ._ K.A. Anderson, Univ. of Calif ___ energy, and variations.
Solar plasma flux, energy, and
Plasma, Electrostatic Analyz(,r_ __ M. Bader, Ames Research Center_ direction.
Plasma, Faraday Cup
.............. ] 1t. J. Bridge, Mass. hist. of Tech_ Solar plasma flux, energy, and
I direction.
Positron Search and (lamina Ray i T. 1, Clim, and t",. W. throes, i Search for positrons and solar
SI)Pctrllln. (;oddar(I Space Flight (!(,nter gamma ray flux and spectrum.
and hist. for l)efense Analysis. _,
Trapped I{adiation, Scintillation I, R. [),ix'is, (;oddard Siiae(,I,'light (;('onmgt)(,tically tratiped electron
(_ounter. Center. and proton flux, energy, and
direction.
Cosmic Ray Nuclear Abundance. F. B. Mcl)onald, Goddard Space Primary and solar cosmic ray flux.
Flight Centcr. charge, and energy.
Cosmic Ra) St)ectra aim Fluxes _ Primary and solar cosmic ray flux,
.l.A. Simpson, I'niv. of Chicago charge, and energy.
Trapped Radiation, ()mnidir(,c- J. A. Van AIh,n, State l'niv, of I (;eomagnetieally trapl)ed electron
tional Cdunters. and tiroton flux and energy.
]owa.
Trapt)('d Radiation. Eh'ctron Sppc- ,1. R. Winekh,r amt R. L. Arnol( v, (h'omagnetically trapped electron
tromet('r and Ion (,hamlier. l'niv. (if Minn. energy and flux and total ioni-
i
zati(m.
Rubidium Vapor and Flux (;at(' J. P. th,ppner, Goddard Space Magnetic fieht strength and direc-
Magnetometer. tion.
Flight Center. ]
Triaxial Search Coil Magnetom('- Magnetic field low-frequency var-
ter. = E..I. iations.
Smith, Jet Propulsion Lah___
Spherical Ion and Electron Trail__ i R. Sagalyn, A. F., Cambridge Re- i Thermal charged particle density,
search Lab. energy, and composition.
Planar Ion aim Hectron Trap ._ E. C. Whipple, Goddard Sl)ace Thermal charged I)article density,
Flight C(mt('r. ent,rgy, and composition.
R. S. l,awrence, Natl. Bureau of Electron density.
Radio Prol)agation ....... Standards.
It. A. Taylor, (;oddard Space Atmospheric composition.

Atmospheric Mass Spectrum ..... Flight Center.
Interplanetary 1lust Partich,s _! W. M. Alexander, Goddard Space Micron dust particle, velocity,
Flight Center. and mass.
VLF Noise and Propagation ...... R. A. Helliwell, Stanford Univ .... VLF terrestrial noise, solar parti-
I
J cle emissions, and cosmic noise
i
frequency, distribution, and
strength.
Radio Astronomy_ ......... F. T. Itaddock Univ. of Michigan Solar radio-noise burst frequency
spcctrmn.
Geocoronal I,ynmn-Alpha Scatter- P. Mange, Naval R('search Lab_-_i Lyman-alpha intensity.
lug.
Gcgenschein Photonn'try _ __ C. ],. Wolff and K. L. llallam, (leg(,nschein intensity and loca-
Goddard Space Flight Center. ! tion.

i
TABLE 1-5
POGO Experiments _-[r|ld Expel'imcntel'S

......... i
l'rincil)al Expcrimvntcr I'htqlOnltqll}ll ()bsl,rv(.1

Experinmnt Title [
[
F. T. Haddock, Vniv. of Michigan Galactic emission at 2.5 and 3.0

Radio Astronomy ......... Mc.
Terrestrial and other VIA: emis-
VIW .Measurements .......... I R. A. ttelliwcll, Stanfor(t Univ. __ sions in range of 0.2 to 100 kc.
Terrestrial and other VLF emis-
VLF Measurements .... M. G. Morgan and T. Laasl)ere,
l)artmouth Collcge. sions, and whistlers in range of
0.5 to l0 kc.
.1. R. Winckh'r, l'niv, of Minn., Relation between V I,F en),issions
VLF Emissions and ttigh-l.'ncrgy
Electron Bunches. 11. M. Galh,t, Natl. Bur(,aH of and high-energy electron
Standards. bunches (5 to 100 key).
R. E. ltolzer, I;CLA, and E..1. Magnetic fieht fluctuations in the

Search Coil Magnetonwter __
Smith, Jet Protmlsion l_at). low audio frequency range.
•I. P. l lepl)ner, 11. R. Boroson, and World magnetic survey.
Rubidium Val)or Magn(_tomet(.r
J. C. Cain, God(lard Space
Flight Center.
tI. V. Nehor, Calif. Inst. of Tceh., Iolfizati(m and cosnfic rays over
Ionization Chambers: Cosmic Ray
and It. Anderson, Jet Propul- polar regions.
and Polar Region Ionization
Survey. sion Lab.
Scintillation Telescopes; Energetic J. A. Simpson, Univ. of Chicago_ _i Energetic t)articles 0.3 to 30 Mev.
Particles Survey.
Galactic and Solar Cosmic Rays Energy spectrum and charged
[)article coml)osition of galactic
W. R. Weht)cr, Univ. of Minnesota_
and solar cosmic rays.
J. A. Van Allen, State Univ. of Net down flux of corpuscular
Corpuscular Radiation in Auroral
Iowa. radiation in the auroral zones
and Polar Zones.
and over the polar caps.
R. A. ttoffman, L. ll. l)avis, A. Low-energy trapped radiation,
Trapped Radiation, Scintillation
Konradi, and J. M. Williamson, 10 to I00 kcv electrons; 100
l)etector.
Goddard Space Flight Center. kcv to 4.5 Mev protons.
J. Blamont, l:niv, of Paris, and Air glow in 6300A, 5577A, 3914A,
Air Glow Study_ ...........
E. I. Reed, Goddard Space and near UV region.
Flight Center.
P. M. Mange, T. A. Chubb, and Lyman-alpha and far UV air glow
l,ynmn-Alpha and Air (?,low Study_
tI. Friedman, Naval Research measurements between 1230
Lab. and 1350A.
Air Glow Study, UV Spectrom- C. A. Bar(h, Jet Prop. Lab., and Air glow between 1101) and
L. Wallace, Kit( Peak Natl. 3400A.
eter.
Observatory.
Neutral Particle and h)n Conq)osi- L. M. Jones and E..l. Schaefer, Neutral particle an(l ion composi-
Univ. of Michigan. tion, using Massenfilter mass
lion Study
spectrometer.
H. A. Taylor, Jr. and ti. C. Brin- Positive ions (1 to 6 and 7 to 45
Positive Ion Study ......
ton, Goddard Space Flight Cen- ainu), using Benn('tt mass
ter. spectrometer.
Neutral Particle Study_ ..... G. P. Newton, Goddard Space Neutral particles, using Bayard-
Flight Center. Alpert ionization gage.
Micrometeoritc ........... W. M. Alexander, C. W. Mc- Mass, velocity, and charge of
Cracken, O. E. Berg, and L. micrometeorites.
Sccretan, Goddard Space Flight

Center.
R. E. Bourdeau, Goddard Space Ionospheric charged particles,
Ionospheric Composition and 17V
Flux. Flight Center. using retarding potential
analyzer.
Following the selection of experiments, sup- The overall goal of lhe tracking program is to
port of the exl)erimems is ;tssmned by Goddar(t lie al)le to determine for the experimenter the
Space Flight ('enter (GSFC). The experi- 1)osition of the observatory at any tinle within
menters and the ()GO project staff work di- a. sphere of uncertainty having a radius of 1
rectly together to insure that the experinwntal km or less tit perigee and 100 km or less at
objectives are met. Approximately 9 months apogee of EGO.
before t lie sche(hfled lamwh date, prototype ex- l)ata acquisition for 1)oth EGO and POGO
I)eriments will be 1)rought to GSFC to be will lie a('complished lff special prima15- and
checked for coml)atibility with spacecraft simu- secondary stations. Selected stations will have
latot_ which simulate the electri('al interfaces the ('al)abilit y to receive and record at maximunl
that the exl>eriment will see in the ()b._,rvatol T. data rates till data from the telemetry on OGO.
In addition, 'the pr()totyl)e experiments will be I)rimary tracking and acquisil ion sites are Ilos-
subje_'te(t to environmental tests of vibration, man, North ('arolina: and Fairl>anks, Alaska.
shock, (hermal-va(.mml, t eml)erat u re, h,ak (for Secomlary sties are h)('ated in Austral ia ; Johan-
sealed units), ac('eleration, and nm_znetic, fields nesburg, South Africa: and Quito, Ecuador.
to l)rove that the exl)erhnents are ('alml)le of All the 1)rimary sites will have complete digital
withstandin_ the rigors (if launch 'rod 'the sp'we and tone <'ommand Cal)abilities. All the sec-
environment, and to determi)w their magnetic <mdary sites and Minitrack stations will have
I)roperties. Similar tests :it lower test levels tone connmuld capal)ilities. In addition, sec-
will be conducie(1 on the ttight units of the ex- ondary sites that "see" injection of EGO or
l)erilnents. I)()G() will have sufficient digital command
Folh)uing testing tit (;SF(', experiments will Calmbilities to conuuand a backup observatory
be Shil)i)e(l to the l)rime con(factor, Sl)ave Tech- (lel)loynient and acquisiiion l)]lase. Inject ion of
nology Laborat()ries, In('., ()f Redon(lo Beach, E(;() will occur near tile northwestern tip of
California, where tile exl)erinie)lis will lie given Australia; for P()GO, injection will occur near
additional bench and interface checks before Madagascar. In I)oth cases, injection will occur
integration into the ol)_rvatory. The eniire during the second burn of the Agena, which
observatory will fllen be exl)o._d to a mries of ('oasis in :_ transfer ellipse following first Agena
enviromnental tests to (lete.rmine that the entire. burn. Shroud separation will have occurred
system will operate together without interfer- following burnout of the first-stage Atlas or
ence and that it can withstand the launch and Thor for EGO or I'()GO, respectively.
space environments. Environmental tests will
ORBITAL OPERATION
be conducted with l)oth a l)rototype and the
flight m(xlel ol)servatories. After completion A flow diagram indicating the operation of
of the enviromnenta] tests at the ol)servat<)ry lhe OGO in orbit is shown in Figure 1-1. Cen-
level the observatory will lie shipl)ed to the tral control of the observatories will be from
al)prol)riate lamwh silt,, w]lere it will undergo Goddard Space Flight (_enter. Data links con-
detailed hangar checkout before being l)lqced necting (I-SFC with Rosman and Alaska. will be
on the launch vehicle. Succe._ful COml)letion used to give some degree of real-time control
of "on-pad'" tests of the launch vehMe aim the of the satellites. GSFC central will have com-
observatory together are required before launch 1)lete facilities to (le(_onnnutate, extract, display,
will be initiated.
'malyze, and print all data from the telemetr_'.
It will not tie necessary that all these functions
TRACKING AND DATA ACQUISITION
be lierformed in real time. IIowever, real-time
'l'¢acking and data acquisition for the OGO lierfornmnee to determine certain i)arametel%
missions tire the responsibility (,f Goddard esl)ecially for experiments, may tie required at
Space Flight ('enter. Tracking of the o[)serva- sl)e_cific times. Since the Ilosman station, which
tortes will be a(.coml)lished by a network of has an 85-foot l)arabolic antenna, can _e EGO
tra('kin_ stations ](x'ated throughout the world. apl)roximately 50 l)ercent of the time and be,-
MISSION OF ORBITING GEOPHYSICAl. OBSERVATORIES
R_CE,_R
I I PR°G_M_ER
I'
_'°_E I J _.CODERS
TELE_TRY
_--4 _ONTRO_
J. J
/T_NSMmERI I 1
SPACECRAFT
RECEIVING STATION DATA REDUCTION CENTER
t
_ TELE ^ETRY _ CATALOGUtNG I I INITIAL I I
I REC IVER _ RECORDER J --I J AND Ji_ MACHINE H DATA
LIMITED /
-- 'I b °'z °''

DISPLAY
REAL-TIME DATA J | TELEMETRY _
DISPLAY AND/OR h l TAPES TELEMETRY
_ CON_ERS,ON
_1/ --I-- Z% 'TNR
r
I ' , , _ , IFHALMAC"INEII
, . l I I . _ PROCESSING
I _l
EXPERIMENTERS J
L.___
_ TRACKING
INSTR_TJONS
I.__I
) I -----_
I i TRACKING
Jl
1[__
i PREOc,
o.s_ I°_R' _M OgA u [-- ORBITAL
I co, 1--1COMPUTER
L'_----1
TIicO_.0_ _TELEME,RY(_-- "r_OR_T_ '
/TRANSM'TTERI I _N__°_"
I I'N_TRUCTIO_Si
cPOWLI2OoNs]
I
! SATELLITE
!
i COM_.OS
FI(IITRE 1--1. Flow diagram for operation of the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory in orbit.
cause the OG(Ys are basically self-eonirolling Alaska, for _'Oml>uter entry and disl)lay. Like-
spacecraft, the taped drrt, ldu,_" Ifosman real- wise, a sl)e('ial l)m'pose l)r(_'ess<>r will eon<lition
/;me approach will allow a large de_ree of con- sl)e('ial l)url)ose telemetry signals for entry and
trol of EGO. For ]OGO, the real-time limit:t- "lisl)lay. The cOral)met will ]w used to 1)erform
lions are more severe. Even with dat:t links automatic status ehe('ks (m the Sl)a('e('rafl and
from Rosman and Alaska to GSFC, real-time to process, or retire,, selected exl)eriment out-
control of POGO may be limited to apl)roxi- puts in real time. ('ontr()l anddisl)hlyeonsoles
mately 10 percent of the time. Teletype systems at (_SFC will l_ used for timing, rout ing, and
to all the other stations will allow preplamled disl)lay of the (lala_ and for remote control of
('<)remands from GSFC to I_, ready for trans- the ground re('orders and PCM data handling
mission to the ol)servatories when they come equipment, l)ata su('h as time, slalion slalus,
within range. status of the observatory conmmni('alions and
All data from the data acquisition stations data han(llh_ff equil)ment, and the status of a
will be recorded on tapes and forwarded to "pass" will 1)e disl)layed ('ontinu()usly. liard-
GSb_C for pro('essing. However, both GSFC ('ol)y disl)lay of the status of the spa('e('rafl
and the t)rimary sites will have P('M data han- (housekeel)ing data) and a qu/('],' /ooZ" at se-
dling equipment. At G'SF(', this equipmelH le('ted exl)eriment outl)uts will I)(, provided l)y
will he used to ('ondition wide-band l)CM sift- a, I)rimer. The tal)e recorders will he used to
nals, re<'eived via the ]ink from Rosman and re('or(1 the regenerated clean data frmn the out-
9
put of the si_znal ('ondith)ner, and the raw un- remote sites, the tapes will 1)e catalogued an(t
processed signal from tile special purpose [)recessed. The general i)rocedure will 1)e t(,
telelnetl T. Time code will also be recorded ])l'()lhl('e noise-free lllaSlel' (,Ollll)lltel, t:ll)es ('Olt-
simultaneously with these signals. iail|ing all raw <lat;i aml orbital (h.:l. In(livid-
(_SF(" will also possess a ('.mnlan/t ('OilS(lie .a] ('!)ml)uler nlagneli(, /apes will l_el)l'o(tuced
that will alh)w ce.tral (,ontt'ol to "talk" to the for each exl)erimelner with the tapes c<mtaininff
()l)servatory in real tilne via tim links to ]{oslllall his experimental data, s])a('eCl'afI l)el'f'()l'Vll_tll('e
and Alaska. This ('apahility will permi! some l)aratneters_ sl)ace('raft orienlation, orhhal ele-
automatic real-time response to events (x,(.ur- ments, and universal time. These tapes will he
I'ing in space. The 1)rimary stations also will forw'n'ded to each exi)erilnenler for further
have limited general purllose disl)hlys, toffether l.'()('essin_,Z and almlvsis. The l>l'inmry lne:lns
with their PCM (lata han(llitlg equipn/ent. for (tissl, n_in:l( in V new in f,)l'lllat i.t_ Ill Ill(, s('ieu-
This e(ltlipIneln will iw()vi(le siation operators lille ;lll(] leHmoloffi(':ll slta(.e ('OVlllllllllily will l_t,
:It these stations with sufli<'ient quick-hlok ca- [ln'(nlffh I)ld)li('aii¢)n [it the open literature.
i)ahili_y for ('()lmmlnd verili(':ni()l h and will In sulnmal'y, the ()rhiting (;eol)hysical ()h-
perltlit cleaner siffmlls to he transInilte(t via tilt" serv:ttories are to lte stan(hlv'(lize(1, but flexihle,
(Ilia link tt) (;SF('. The result shon](l [)e slla<'e<'raft cotnposed of easily removat)]e sub-
gl'eatel' systelll flexihility :/n(t reliahilit v. systems and well-defined interfaces for exl)eri-
Tl':lckin_ data i)htained from the netwm'k of inents su('h thai the ()G()'s shou](t he (':lI/altle
Minitra('k and pt'in.n'y and secoll(tary slat ions of use for :l wide variety of missiol_S in :l ImlU-
will he f()rwarded to GSF(' for ('(mq)lltat ion of her ot different orhits. Slal_(tar(lization and
lhe ()rhital elements. ()rhital l)redicliolls will flexit)ilitv in removing, relflacing, or niodif.v-
he computed fi'()m these elellients and will he in_ exllet'in.'vlts have ])eetl ke?¢llo|es ill the lie-
transmitted It) the tl'a('king sites to provide an- siff. ()t' a systelu whose (h,sigl/ shold(t serve :IS
tenna t)ointinff ilfform:ltion f(ir the stations to a carrier for exllerilnents for several years. A
allow initial antenlm acquisition at lilt' he_rin- systems alll)roach t(> the observatory, the ]:lunc]l
uing of each pass. vehicle, and tile tl'ackin_ :lnd data ac(luisitioll
l%ll()wiIl_ transmission to (;SF( _ of tapes on should result in fulfillment of hoth the l)|'im:lry
whi('h tilt, I('lelnet rv signals are re<'orde<l :it the :lll(I se('ond'lry ol>je(qives of tile program.
10
THE ENGINEERING DESIGN OF THE
ORBITING GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATORIES
} )y
GEOr(;E E. _
(TI,I,:(_I 1()1{ N *
_'/>aec T¢,et_n oloq.q L¢lt)oi'rttor;,,._
The Orbiting Geophysical Observatory has been will be designed to look toward the earth
designed as a st_mdard Slm(*e(.raft ('almble of (tarrying m' sml. while others will be require(1 to lie ori-
a large number of wu'ied scientific eXl)eriments ml (,a(.h
enle(t (lire('tly away from these 1)odies. Other
hum(.h. Margin built into the design makes the ob-
e.xl)erimems must t)e oriented l)arallel (() the
s(,rvatory ('almhh+ of Ol)(q'atio]l in a variety of orbits.
l)la,m of the orbit. The stal)ilization s,heme
INTRODUCTION l)rovi(h,s for thes(, net'(Is (hvoughou! m()s( of the
()rl>il. In a(hlili()n, the sensitivity of someex-
The ()rbiling Geophysical ()l)servatory
])erilnenl sens()).'s makes i( )m('essary to isolale
(()(;()) is I)ein_z (h'velol)ed I)y Sl)a('e 'l'edlnol-
(hem from all other lx)r(ions of the ol)s(,rva_
o_y l,al)oralori(,s for (_od(lard Sl)a('e FliThl
(¥mer. The mission of the ()(;() has been (le- l())'y ; (his re(luires l)la('in 0" these exl)erim('nls Oli
long l)ooms (,x)en(lin_ from Ill(, spa('(,('rafi's
scribed by Mr. Scull in the preceding paper.
main h(,(ly.
The ol)servalor) lliay l)e ('()lisi(h're(i Io hay(,
two l)arts: a se( of eXl)e)'inwnls , and a l)asi(' CONFIGURATION
sl)a('e('rafl. The .w,t of _<.Umrimen/,_" will l)e Tim observatory is slmwn in 1he deployed
(']Iosl,ll ()II tll(_ l)asis of the mission of the l)artie - (,onliguration normal for o,'l)i(al ol)eration in
ular laun('h, in('lu(ling su('h fa('tors as the orl)i(,
Fi_zure 2-1. The main 1)ox sll'll('llll'e lneasm'es
season of (h(, year, availal)ili(y of the exl)eri-
al)l)r()ximalely (; x 3 x 3 feel. Its size is Jimile(I
men), and allowable weigh) based on lau)m]_
t)y the )w('essi)y (o tl( wilhin lhe 55-in('h (liam-
ve]d('h: ('al)ahili(y. The ,_'l+,<'_'<'r<Lf* must l)e e(('v of (h(' nose fairing' (FiTure :_ 2) as w('ll as
(lesi_)e(l (o a<'('ommodale a variety of exl)eri-
t)y wei_'ht restrictions.
ments, u l) to filly per launch, I)rovi(ling an
()re, of the 3 x (;-fool fa('es is made (o fa('e, the
att ilu(le-s(al)ilized l)]atfomn with a proper me-
earth. I'l)()n this
and the 3 x (;-f(x)( Ol)l)osile
('hani('al and (hermal enviromn(,nt, (,h,('Iri('
f'a('(' Ill'(, Iil()ll|llP({ those (,xl)('Filllellls l]l:),l al'p
l)ower, and llrovishm f()v ('()lle('(ing (he exl)('vi-
('am'led ill (he main body. A l)or(ion of the in-
memal (hna and transmitting" i((() lhe g)'()un(l.
terior, 30 x I(; x "24 inches between these two
The ('onslrainls within whi('h (he sl)a('e('raf(
fn('es, is kel)( clear of spat'coral( equipment to
must I)(, (h, si_ne(l are l)rovi(h'd l)y l])e lyl)i('al
l)rovhle for ex('el)tio)ml].v ]arg'(, exl)erimen(s.
(>rl)ils of the in('lim'd e('('enlri(" and l)()hu' ()rl)i(s
()f (he E(i() and I)()(;() n)issi()ns and (he char- _[os( exl)evimen(s mounted in (he interior of the
acle)'is( it's of the Atlas, Tim)', and Age)m hmn('h main body fit within one ()f (he fifteen S x 8 x g-
vehi('h's. in(,h momltin_z volumes 1)rovide(l on each of the
(lOOl'S.
l)arti('uhu • ])('(,(is of various (yl)eS of (,Xl)eri-
ments diclate certain specialized requirements The s()l:,.r array is l|tounled ill a shaft (hal
for tile OGO. Certain ()f the experiments l)ass(,s thv()u_rh the two remai)lin_z laver, faces
of lhe main b<)(ly. Since the array musl l)(,
• 4)(_() ])F()gl'_llll l)ire(.tor, Slm('e T(,<.lnmlogy l,ai)ora-
t ()l'i('S, Ill('. maint:tined normal to (he in('i(lent smdigh(,
11
ATTITUDE CONTROL GAS JETS GAS JET BOOM
RADIATING SIDE
RADIATING SIDE OPEP \
4- ft BOOM EXPERIMENT
CONTAINER X
SOLAR ARRAY
400 - Mc HIGH GAIN ANTENNA
CONTAINER
Mc OMNIDIRECTIONAL
ANTENNA
HOUSING
EARTH FACING
DRIVE /_
SIDE
OPEP
CONTAINER
22-ft BOOM EXPERIMENT
CONTAINER
400 - Mc OMNIDIRECTIONAL
ANTENNA
22 - ft BOOM
Z
OPEP f 4 - ft BOOM
SOLAR ARRAY \
SIDE
OPEP
ATTITUDE CONTROL
GAS JETS
22 - ft
400 - Mc HIGH GAIN ANTENNA
FIGURE 2-1. Deployed OGO.
12
DESIGN OF ORBITING GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATORIES
view of the 1)ody-mounted experiments. Gas

nozzles for the attitude control system are also
mounted on booms to increase the lever arm
and thus to minimize the weight of gas required.
At one end of the body, monnted on a shaft
perpendicular to the solar arrqy shaft, are two
O_'b/t Pla'ne ExpeNment Paakage,_' (OPEP).
.ks the name implies, these packages are pro-
vided for experiments that must be mounted so
as to face parallel to the plane of the orbit.
STRUCTURE
The main body of the spacecraft is a rectan-

gular 1)rism approximately 6 feet long by 3 feet
sqlwre. The panels that form the sides are of
a corrugated aluminum sandwich structure.
This type of construction was chosen from
among several alternatives as being the mini-
mum-weight l)anel meeting requirements of
stiffness, thermal conductivity, and ease of
mounting experiments and spacecraft subsys-
tems.
Two of the sides and the ends of the body
F'IGURE 2--2. Lateral vibration survey test setup of are I)ermanently fixed to each other. The re-
folded eGO.
maining two sides are hinged in sections to
l>ermit access to the interior. Experiment as-
these t we faces never see the sun and may there- semblies carried in the main body of the ob-
fore be used to radiate heat from the interior serv,ttory are mounted on these "experiment
of tile spacecraft. "File amount of heat radiated do<)t_." The fxed faces and an intercostal
is regulated by t hermost at icallv ('onl rolled lon- st ructure attached bet ween ihem provide mount-
vers mounted on these faces and on one end of ing surfa<'es for the electronic assemblies of the
the body, which also is never exl)osed to direct spacecraft. Those asseml)]ies that consume the
starlight. most 1)ower are mounted on the fixed-side snr-
Electric power for the ,)l)servato_ 5, is pro- fa<'es. These panels form an integral part. of
vided 1)y silicon solar cells mounted on the solar the thermal (.onlrol system and serve to dissi-
arrays. Two No/_,t, O_./e_t_d Expel'f_t.e.i) t Pa('/_- pate the heat l)y radiation.
a(/e,_ (S()Et)) for each array are provided for The ol)servatory is attached to the Agena
lhose exl)eriments that must 1)e (>riented t<)ward 1)oost vehicle t)y an interstage truss structure,
the sml. which may be seen in Figure 2-2. The four
Two 1)ooms, designed to accomnmdate experi- inverted V*s carry tile load from the four ma-
ments esl)ecially sensitive to tile l>roximity of ('hined feel attached t<) tile observatory to tile
the spacecraft, are provided; each is 29. feet ul)per ring of the Agen'u
long. Four shorter experiment booms, 4 feet The st)acecraft and interstage are held to-
hmg, are 1)rovided for exl)erhnents who_ sen- gether during boost 1)y a tension band with four
sitivity or look-angle requirements make mount- shoes that clamp lhe mounting feet to the mat-
ins exterior to the spacecraft necessary. In ing interslage. ['i)on receipt of the sel)aration
addition, the tracking and telemetry antennas sigmfl from the Agena, exl)h)sive actuators re-
are nlollnted on 1)()onls to obtaiu pl'o|)er alltenna lease the tension band and allow four coil
patterns and to remove them from the field of springs to iml)art a separation velocity of
13
5 ft/'sec io lhe Sl>n('eeraft. The (lesi_il is such II piece of elastic cord approxiniafely ten iime._
lhat lhe in<'renient of angnlar velo(.ily due to the lhe ]engt]l of the aria, fixed lo a l)oini directly
separlttion process is less than I degree/se(" :it)ore lhe hinge. This effectively cancels the
under tile most adverse collditions. Keeping"
ibis tunll)liug velocity sniall minimizes the job
of lhe aiiitu<|e control systeln in its initial ori-
eniaiion with respec[ to the earth and sun.
The structure is designed lo be sufficiently
strong to support not only lhe loads deriving
froni the 1000-pound spacecraft for the initial
EG() amt POG() missions 1)ut also to acconnno-
date an additional 500 pounds for a grow|h vei'-
sion of the OGO. The uiosi severe design
restraint on the structure, however, is the vi-
hration occurring during the 1)oost phase of
flight. In order that the spacecraft can 1)e
acconnnodated on ihe Agena launch vehicle_ it
must 1)e folded [o fit within the nose fairing:
:rod in this configuration it musi endure high
vibrafion levels. The struciural model space-
craft has been vii>rated to 1.5 times lhe expecied
limnch envirolmient, lea(ling lo a lmlnber of
design iniprovemenis in lhe meihods of iyin_
down tlJe appendages and the solar ])anels.
The solar array (Figure 2-3) is constructed
I)y attaching solar ('ell nio(lules to a relatively
light ahlminuni frimlework. To fit within the
shroud, lhe paddh, s nmst 1)e folded ils in Figure ]_'IGUII, E g--3. S()]fil" array p_tliel.
"2 2. This resulls in a rather severe loading

nnl|er lhe vihi'_lt ion COlidil ions descril)ed above,
and ii is this loading lhill hnposes flit' most
se'cel'e reslriclions Oil lhe s<)lnr ill'Pay. Loc'l!
sliffeliin7 of lhe frlillleWOl'k liear SOllil_ of flit,
hoiddown pohlls h'l.s been liel'esslirv fo ]lold tile

sti'esses within ihe allowable linliis.
The deploynient of the several appelidages

l'eqllire¢l for experinlenls and spacecraft, equip-
merit po_s an illterestill_ prolfleni ill design
verilicalion. Since the deploynient in flight
will (_'('ur under zero-_ conditions, a llllinl)er (if
Sl)echll lests ]lave been devised lo ('ontli'ni tii:il
lhe dep|oynienl nie('hi/nisnis will work proper]y
:llld lhal the stresses in lhe h(iolns will remain
withhl tlOllll(|s. I11 a typical ellp,'ineel'illff lesi
£or ()lie ol e lhe slioi'ier l)ooliiS ( Figures 2-4. :2 5,

FIIII'III,] '2 i, N]l(_rt b()Oill, (h,|lhtyli elll- lesi oxperiln(,lit
_111(1
"-) (l) the wei_lll (if ihe l)ooni is SUl)l)orled by ])il('kilgO lio. l, fohle(I,
14
DESIGN OF ORBITfNG GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATORIES
THERMAL CONTROL
'rile thermal tout rol sy_i em has l>een designed

Io keel> tile |liter|or lenil)eraiure (}f the Sl)tlt'e-
(.raft's niail/ l)ody withili the sl)ecified limits -f
5 ° to 35 ° ('. Since the ()GO m:ty encounter
eclil)ses ti t) t<) '2 hours in ]ell__qh or may lie con-
U+
tinuously in the smi for nlotithstlt a time, it was
foull(| ne('essary to einploy an active thernml
c+)lltr<)l ._y+teni to asslil'e ill:it these limits are
met. This is a('conlplished tJy utiliziug the fact
lhat. the t we fixe(| faces of the main 1)ox through
which ihe _o]ar array shaft passes ;ire never
exl)<)se(I to direct suliliglit. Thus they may he
+I
used to ra(li:ite iilternallv venerate(| heat ;|way
from the ;-;l)tt('e¢'rttft. The I'eliit+,illi]l_ faces <)f
_IGI?IIE o _. Sh,rt I)ooln, depl i vmetit test experinieni
package ml. 1. (leploy(_l. the Sl)aCe('i'aft are ('overe(| with niultil)le hiyers
<)f :tluniiltized Myhu', 1)rovi(lil+g a liearly perfect

illsuhitioll. The :uil<)utit <>f radiated heat is
(,ontr<)lle(I try thermostatically ('oliti+olh'd
louvers (I+i_ure 2-_). Each of these louvers
FIGVRE '26. Short booms, deploymetit test experinient

I)ackage hi). I.
gravity for<'e without a(|ding to the forces tend-

in_ to aid or retard the (|el)loylnellt niolioli.
Tests (ff the lollgel' lie(tillS ]ltive I)eeli ('oli(hlcte(t
with the tx)olil ri(lill_ Oil il.i 1'[)e;I rililZs <)it it special
<_ili(>(){|i floor <)t" |)oure(t e|)oxv l'e_ili (Fig-
u re 7-7 ).
FIlII:IIE '_ _, Therllltt[ (,unlrol hillVOl'S.
i+ actualetl hy it hhnetallh' ,_l)rilig use<l hoth to
set|st' the leliil)eraiure (if lhe I)itliel lieneil, th it
tilid Io lirovi(le the ilt'.('e+Slil'y force 1o 1)ositioil

the hiuver. Thll+, wheli the iilterna] lelill)er:i-
llll'e ri+e+, flip ]olivet'+ ;il'e ol)eued io ;tllow niol'e
Ill'tit l<) i'li(liale :i',xtty. _IVheli lhe lelilliel'titlli+e
(h'ol).< , i lley are oh)sod t<) ('oiiliiili it.
All early ,_tu(ly W:lS ('Oli(|li('ted to see whel tier
the teinl)erature c(>iihl lit, c()iltrolle(1 wilhmil
iil+ill;tlillg lhe +Ill'fill'e,',4 exlll>>:e(I 1o eli]tit' I'a(|itl -

il()ii. The re+llli._ iil(li(':tted lliiit it t.s.'iiS lie1
FIGI'IIE _ 7. I,(illg lloolil lest St'till).
15
possible to .select tile surface radiation proper- Mating and power distrilmt,ion equipment. The
ties to keep tile temt)eratures within the sped- l)attery is com_eeted directly to the main 28-
tied limits. volt bus, which is distribut.ed throughout the
It has been found that all ti,e external exl)eri-
ment l)aekages can be controlled 1)y a proper
Inllance of Mylar insulation and radiating sur-
faces with the u_, in some cases_ of thermo-
stali.eally controlle<| healers. The situation in
these cases differs from the main lmdy in that
the sensors h)cated in the external l)ackages
ffenerale relatively little heat compared with
the assembly within the main body. They can
therefore be kept to a h)w enough teml)erature
when in the sunlight 1)y a l)rol)er balance of
radiating and insulate(1 surfaces, but must be
heated during periods when they are in shadow.
The thermal control of the solar array umst
consider
perature
two separate
minimal
aspe('ts:
when in
keel)lug the tem-
full sunlight to
-\
maximize the efficiency of the solar cells, and FIGURE 2 9. Solar cell modules.
minimizing the leml)erature dro 1) during
eclil)se. It is ne('essary to keep the minimum
spacecraft. Power for experiments and other
temperature reached above -140 ° C to avoid
units activated by command is switched in a
damage to tim solar ('ells t)e('ause of the thermal
Command I)istribution Unit. Power for units
stresses set ill). This is ac('omp]ished by l)ro-
requiring voltages other than 28 volts is pro-
:riding sufficient thermal mass in /tie 1)eryllium
vided 1)y solid state converters. Convertem are
sul)strates of the sohir modules to kee l) al)ove
a.l_) used for those units for which the voltage
this teml)erature at the end of a °-hour e('lipse.
regulation of the main lms (23.5 to 33.5 volts)
It is this requirement, rather than a structural
is excessive. In addition, at 400-cycle converter
strength reqniremeut, that determiues the thick-
ness of the substrate. is provided for the attitude control system.
An electro-detmsited optical coating is ap- Synchronization signals at 2461 ells sire pro-
plied to the glass cover slides, 6 mils thick, vided to all converters. Since VLF experiments
mounted on each cell to attenuate radi,/tion will 1)e carried on OG(), these signals are pro-
above the I)lue region of the sl)e(,trmn. This vided to assure that there will be I)ands of fre-
minimizes absorption of radiation in the red quency in the VI,F range that are free front
region of the sl)ectrum, which would tend to noise generated by the power system.
raise the temperature without materially adding Two nickel-cadmium battery 1lacks, eaeh of
1o the electric t)ower generated. 12 ami)-hr cai)a('ity , are used. Each battery
In addition to the cover slides, the back sur- consists of 22 prismatic cells and weighs about
face of the sul)strales is coated with a liotassium 32 pounds. To hoht the upper temperature to
silicate compound having a high emissivity and a nfinimum, the batteries are mounted directly
h)w absorl)tivity t<) maximize the heat radiated on the radiating face of the main body. Ilalf
from the 1)anel, Figure '2-!I. of each batte W l)a('k (Figure ')-10) is elec-
tric'flly connected in series with half of the
POWER SUPPLY
other pack, so that the heat to be di._iI)ated
The l)ower supply consists of three major from each t)attery will I)e equalized between
elements : batteries, solar arr:D, , and charge reff- the two radialing faces. The size of the battery
16
The charge current rate may be chosen from

one of several preset valtles 1)}" grOlllld eom-
inand. This allows the <'harge level to be se-
lected to fit the lmrticular sunlight eclipse con-
ditions thai the spacecraft experiences. Since
the ratio of eclipse time to total orbit time is
1)redictable long in advance, conlmand ehallges
need be niade only lit infrequent intervals.

Various other sensors itre provided lo redliee,
the eh'lrge rate 1o a trickle charge level when
the volialze reaches the proper level or when the
l_altei'v lellil)eraiure exceeds 95 ° F, _lllell the
tmilery ieniperalure exceeds 1'25 ° F> indieatin 7

it battery faihn'e, trallsfer relfl, ys operate to
cause the renmining 1)attery to control the en-
FmUliE 2-10. eGO battery, pack.
tire st)htr array. Should both batteries fail, the
system is caused to be ol_rated directly from
has been selected to limit the depth of dis- the soh/r array.
charge dlu'i!t_ eclit)se to 75 percent for tlle rehl-
ATTITUDE CONTROL
lively infrequent 2-hour eclipse in the EGO
niission. In the near-earth P()(}O orbitIwith The attitude control systenl serves to orient
more frequent, shorter eclipses--the discharge the sl)llcecraft so thai one exl)erilnent door faces
will be limited to 25 l>ercent. the etu'th while, the solar arl't/y is maintained
The solar arl'lly consisls <if two solar paddles, t)erl)endicuh/r 1o the Silll>S rays. The local veri i-
each h'lving 144 solar cell modules niounted cal is sensed by It body-iliOltlited infrared hori-
on <'ill almninunl franie. Each niodule contains zoii SCalllier, while tile direction of the Sllll is
117 gridded sili<'on sohu" cells of 1t).5 i)ere.'an{ indicated by solar selisors liiOiiiiled Oil the tips
eleienc,y in space. Tile 7 x 16 <'ell niodule is of the sohu" panels. As shown l)y the block
wired in _l'ies Imraliel. Tl_e tolal array can diagri_ni of Figure 7-1:2), error signals from
provide ilpliroxiniately 5{10 watts, whieh is these SeliSOl'S lll'e llsed to drive reaction wheels
equivalent, to approxiniately 7 watlstsq ft, or that provide the necessary tol_'lues for stabiliza-
4.8 watis/ll) when tierylliuln sul)sir,ltes are used. tion. The same signals are "ll_l)lie<l ill parallel
The eharTe control schenie incorporates t,wo to gas jets, with dead bands adjusted so thai
current regtilators, each iiiainiainin_ a, preset the pnemnatics are used only for large errors.
charge cttrrelll, to one of lhe batteries. A func- Thus the gas torques effectively serve to re-
lional diagram of the charge control scheme is niove the se<'ular monlentuni that nu/y build up
shown in Figure 7-11. The charging c,url_ni in lhe reaction wheels. The Still sensor sign'lls
is controlled 1)y shunling ll portion of the are itl_) used to control the drive mechanisnls
lirr,'iy through l)ower transistoi_ alid thus re- i,ti,'lt olitl_ the solar array to lit_, orienled al)out,
ducing the ourrelit a vaihlble fi'onl the arra,y. its axis.
The_se transistors are mounted oil heat sinks at, The llneumatic system uses arg(m stored at
the outboard ellds of the array. When the ar- "_10()(}psi in a spherical litaniuni tank. Use of
ray is cold after all eclipse, control of the charge artzon rather than nitr6gen iniposes It weight
current is lost, lind the battery voltage alid load i)enalty of al)l)roxinlately lit llercent of tile
set the opel_iting point. Confrol is retained l)neuinatic sysleni weight, t)ul iis use is never-
<_fter the ari_ D" warnls tip> which should oc- iheless desirable t)eCallSe lhe iiThier lllolel'lllal'
cur withhl 10 nlinutes after leavintg eelip_ weilzht (if nitrogen Wollhl CatlSe iillerferellee
eondit.ions. with eertliin experimenis. The low l)i'essure
17
_as, regulated to 50 psi, is piped to solenoid :ned lulwieation :rod sealin_ prol>lems is
valves and thence to nozzles on the eas booms eliminated.
that provide (UC) pomM of t'orc'e per n.zzh,. The Still SellS()I' SV.'-;|(_llt im'orl)orales l)oth
The horizon scanner uses four lmwkin_' hend_ _.oar_e and lira, sensors. The fine sensor is n
lhal are sel whh oplicnlaxes 9(i(Ie_'rees nlm.rl. silicon Wn radintion (r:u'kin_Z transducer l ltnl
These tra.ckin_Z heads irack lhe edge of lhe e:Irl h. lWOVides tw. (Hlllmls i)l'()[)ort hmal I. the t,vr()r
n nd the Io_zie is such lhai the scnlmer determines si_'nals al.)u/ o]'Iho_omd nxe_ and :l third oul
lhe earlh center when any three heads have lint indi('atin_Z that (he (h'vi('e i._ illuminated.
locked on. I f one of the three heads bein_ nsed Illthe n()rlnniinode ()fOl)er;flhm one of llw
fails or if lhe sun al_penrs in it,_ fiehl of view, I)rOl_()rli(mal si_Imls ('(mtrolslhe vehi('lehi>ore
he system automati('allv swiWhes Io the re- lhe yaw nxis and the olher si_n:_l _'(mlr.l,_ I IH,
dm,laul t]'acl,:er. A feature of the horizon 1):.hlle roiution
abouL itsshrift. The lhir(l_i_-
._rannev is ihat llle svam_in_ mirrm' ],waled on ,,:,nis t,>
1]., conlr()l ]nlmlS lq) I}w
enc]t I t'ne],:ill_ henri is mmmt_'d on jh'Xllr(' 1)i'fffls, ('o:ir_,
sensors v,'henllw finesensc, r isn,'>(ill_
s. ilml lhe need for benrin_'s will_ _heir nsso_'i n_inaled. Th_ ('oarse sensor_ are pre-irradinte(I
CRSB
LOAD
BUS
CR62
AMP.
R61 R62
R63 R64
R6.5 LEVEL
SET
AMP.
rll R12 AMP.
RI3 RI4
HARGE
LEVEL
R15
SET
]_'I_URE O 11. I_harge ('(mtr(d sy._tetn.
18
silicon solar cells appropriately mounted and generated by the solar sensors. In addition,
masked to sen_ the direction of incident sun- an angular rate about the pitch axis of approx-
light. imately 1_ degree/sec is initiated. The sun is
The control system has three basic modes of acquired (with output for rates of the Agena
operation: the launch/boost mode, the acquisi- within specification) within 10 minutes. In
tion mode, and the normal control mode. The addition to this, 15 minutes is allowed to assure
launchboost mode is maintained until ap- that the momentum stored in the reaction wheels
proximately '2 minutes after separation from does not exceed the values required to enter into
the Agena vehicle. At that time, and after the tim next phase. The earth search phase of ac-
appendages have been deployed, the system is quisition is initiated by _t 29-minute timer that
switched into the first phase of the acquisition limits tim dur'ttiou of the sun acquisition phase.
mode hy the spacecraft sequencing equipment
])uring this plr_ of operation the solar array
or by ground command. In the first, phase of
renmins locked on the sun, and the horizon
the acquisition mode, the paddles are caused to
scanner searches for proper lock on the earth.
be slewed so that the solar cells face in the direc-
Because of the small pitch rate introduced and
tion away from the OPEP end of the space-
becau_ of the geometry of the orbits, earth ac-
craft. When this position has been reached,
the array is held fixed with I_espect to the body, quisition is obtained within one orbit period.
and the system enters the sun acquisition When the earth is acquired, the system s'witches
phase. In this phase the spacecraft is taunt into the normal mode of operation. The sys-
to acquire the sun operating from error si_mals tem may be caused to return to the qcquisition
COMMAND
ARRAY
ERROR
L
SIGNAL
TLM UNSTABLE.
YAW ERROR NULL
SIGNAL
ROLL
CC_'T/tOL
MODE SWITCHING CHANNEL
INHIBIT SIGNALS
HORIZON SCANNER J
SUN
ASSY I INTERFERENCE
'WHEEL INHIBIT L ]Ia

SWITCHING
/,
YAW
! DRIVER
-_--_TLM
AUTO
UNSTABLE NULL
C OMMAND
COMMANDS rl GYRO SUN INTERFERENCE
INHIBIT I
I m2 GYRO
m AMP.
MODE (TLMI
I
] LAUNCH BOOSI _ OPE P ANG LE
a SLEW
h SUN
ARR._Y
ACOUIStTION
TO IBO °
J
c EARTH SEARCH
m- _ NORMAL CONTROL
FIGL'RE 2--12. Attitude control system.
19
fl;I)G_2 () - 63 - 4
mode by ground eonlnland or when two or more under hard vacuum conditions with no further
horizon scamwr heads are not t racking. hlbricat ion.
Control of the OPEP position is accom-
COMMUNICATIONS AND DATA HANDLING
plished by a fltlle[ ionally sel)arate ('Olllro] h.q).
It utilizes a single (h, gree of freedom position Tim ('ommunicatio,ls and data handling sys-
gyro operating in a gyro-cOml)assin ff mode. tem has been des}grind to provide for traekin_
The output axis of this gyro is kept Mon K lhe and comnmnd funct ions for l)()tll
spacecraft and
local vertical by action of the main body con- experimenls, and for telemetry for u l) to ;50
[rol system. The input axis detects the com- experiments (Referem'e 1). The main teleme-
ponent of orl)ilal rate when the ()I_I,;1 ' is nol lry system is a P('M system utilizing a ,()-bit
IWol)erly aligned. The error sigmd operates a vcord and operating at three dat a rates (selected
(h'ive mechanism identical 1o the solar array I)y command) ranging from 1000 to 64,000
drive mechanism to position the ()I'EP })its/see. The eonmmni(,ation system, includ-
properly. ing antennas, must be eal)ab]e of operating over
The drive mechanisms referred to have been the wide range of distances tyi)ified by the EGO
developed for these space applications and fea- and POG() orbits. .ks Figure 2-14 shows, some
ture a 24,000:1 gear reduction, with the final s]iffht modifieations--del)enden! on the orbits
100:1 reduetion being made by wabble gear to be flown--are made to the communication
(Figure _-1"t). The driving gear is made to system.
The tracking and command system is de-
signed to be compatible with the NASA Mini-
track Network as well as with the network of
ground stations presently being constructed by
Goddard Space Flight ('enter (GSFC). Both
tracking lransmitter and command receiver
utilize the same ohm}directional antemm oper-
ating at a 120/136 Me region. For the EGO
{hiss}on, two 100-mill}watt transmitters are used
for normal operation with a 10-watt trans-
mitter being switched on for 45-seeond intervals
when required for more accurate tracking.
Two redundant AM comnmnd receivers are
used. The outputs are cross-strapped to the
several decoders. Faihu-e detection features
are built into the receivers to allow the gain of
FIc, l:mE 2-13. Wabble gear. one receiver to be doubled should the other fail.
Two digital decoders will be used. Each has
wabble without rotating 1)y a cam intenlal to t_ separate address, but the OUtlmts are com-
the bellows. The, point of mesh is thus caused bined in parallel so that command redundancy
to move around the periphery of the gears, and is assured. Each digital decoder is eapable of
the output gear is caused to advance by an receiving and de_'oding 254 eommands. These
amount proportional to the difference in the commands are proee_ed t)y a command distri-
nmnber of teeth between the driving gear and t)ution unit and are used to control exi)eriments ,
the outlmt gear. The bellows fitted to the driv- to change the modes of operation of the atti-
ing gear allows the high-speed gears to be tude control system, etc. A tone decoder, with
hermetically sealed, eliminating the vacuum a eapabilily of receiving up to 15 commands, is
lubrication problem. The final gears are made itwluded. 'I'he_ eomnmnds may I)e utilized by
of sintered t)ronze iml)regmUe(1 with molybde- the Minitra(.k Network or other stations that do
num disulfide and can operate indefinitely not have equipment for sending digital corn-
2O
mands. It is expected that these commands etry system's mode of operation. One of the
will duplicate the more important commands 128-word sul)commutators is used for experi-
of the digital decoders and thus provide more mental data; the other two are reserved for
reliability through redundancy. spacecraft operating arr(l functional data. Itr is
In addition to the 254 commands mentioned possible to command two special modes of op-
above, other commands that are supplied di- eration to provide data at accelerated rates:
rectly to the data handling system are avail- One mode causes one of the spacecraft sutmom-
able; this allows for operation of the flexible mutators to substitute for experimental data in
format feature. the main frame; the other mode I)rovides for re-
The uide-l)and telemetry system is the major l)lacing tim normal main frame with one of 32
data handling system of the OG(). It is com- ('omhinations of seles'ted outputs fl'onl several
l)o_d of two redundant data handling units experiments. By using the latter mode of op-
that operate with outputs transmitted to earth eration, called Flexible Fornvtt, a sul)grou I) of
in real time or connected to one of the two tape the experiments carried on a particular mission
recorders provided for storing data. The basic may be operated when phenomena of special in-
telemetry format consists of 128 nine-bit words terest occur.
in the main frame. Of these words, 116 are The real-time telemetary may be run at 1000
available for" experimental data; and the re- to 64,000 bits/_c or at. one intermediate rate se-
maining 12 provide for synchronization words, lected for tire particular mission. The tape re-
an indication of accnmuhtted time, three sub- corders are capal)le of storing 43.2 million bits.
commutators, and an indication of the telem- Normal input rates are 1On0 bits/_c for EGO
,¢_ EGO ONLY
,1_ OMNIDIRECTIONAL ON POGO
(c) CONTROLLED BY COMMAND

OECODER
iIIRECE'I IER
RELAY F" .... -1 +28vI +28_ l
COMMAND _ COMMAND h" D,G,TAL
L.--J COMMAND
DIGITAL L-- _ COMMAND I I----I DIPLEXER
",D,STR,BUT,ON--
OOTPUTS i I UN,T II
I I ANTENNA
1.2---I---i-I
I TONEL_II ,ooM_I TRACKING _
m m
] J
I
0ECODERt
i I TRANSMITTER I .I_ / I
] PERFORMANCE INSTRUMENTATION
SPACECRAFT _ SPACECRAFT
[ SENSORS CONDITIONING
*28v TRACKING
TRANSMITTER
+28v
i
+28v(c)
-- _ DIGITAL DATA LOW l [ TR_IKING

FREQUENCY
I EXPERIMENTS
_J HANDLING
L
TIMING I I TRANSMITTER
I
l" ANALOG ]I
T_F n----I
r --DF&
TAPE |WIOE_ANDI .I _®M_ I V'00_
1EXPER'MENTS_N -_'JA NA LOG DATA
RECORDER _ TRANSMITTER _ COUPLER J._l DIRECTIONAL
I
PATCH
PANEL
TELEMETRY I ' 1 ANTENNA
A NA LOG SPEC,AL--*-'t _,OE_AND
b-_ Im _
PURPOSE
LEXPER MENTS
r- ..... i1 L +28v(c)
i
J'_ "_'PECIAL'_" " ] SPECIAL
l-- DIGITAL _'tA NALOG
0AT4 I PURPOSE 400 Mc 400 Mc
: ExP_,_"_TS
F-I _ANDL'NG
I ] EXPERIMENTS ANTENNA
FIC, T;aE 2-14. Communications system.
21
and 40()0 bits/see for P()(;(). The corresl_md- checkout and (es(, and to minimize the use of
ing <mtl)ut rates are a((;I-,()()() or 12S,()(H) bits hardware connections to the spacecraft Test-
Set'. ing has l)een implemented by constructing a
Experinwnt data are routed to the telemetry System Test Station, Figure '2-15, which serves
system through a 1)arch panel that allows as-
signinent of dig'ital 'rod analo/ inputs (o par-
ticular word positions, l>r<)vision may also be
made easily for SUl)er eonmmtati()u aml cross-
strapI)ing" between telemetry units.
• T
in addition to _enerating ('lie basic telemetry
format,
tem provide
the tithing units of the wide-band
all the basic timin_' within the ob-
sys- III u
servatory. The 2461-eps synchronizing signals
for the ('onverters are generated in these units,
its is a set of timin/si_dmfls decimally related to
each other and r,m_'ing from a pulse every 10()
seconds to 1000 pu]_s/see.
The wide-balld telemetry system can aecep(
amfl(>g data that are l)ree<)nditioned to lie be-
tween ()and 5 volts. The dqta are routed via
the l)al('h panel to the input gates of the Anah>g FIGURE 2-15. System test station.
I)ata lhm(l]inff l;nits. These units sample the
voltage as dire<.te(l l)y (he format ge)|era(or and as a coral)]ere telemetry and ground commalM
convert it (o digital form with a (luantization station. The station is self-propelled and is
level of 20 millivolts.
designed for cross-country road travel or for
There are two transmitters for the wide-l)an(l
loading into military trallsl)ort aircraft. It is
telemetry system: each capid)le of ol)eratin _ at eal>'tl)le of communicating with the spacecraft
an output of 4 watts at 400 Me. Either trans- over (listanees u 1) t<) 1() miles, ot)erating on its
mitter can be commanded to transmit tiara orer own transmitter. In ad<lition to the van, sev-
either the directional antenna or the omnidiree-
el'Ill _Zroups of equipment are use<l in the vi-
(tonal antenna. The latter, l)r()vi(lin_ an addi- cinity of (he spacecraft to l)rovide for battery
tiolml gain (>f 12 decibels, is intended to lie t)_(1 charging, stinmlating experiments or spa<,eer'fft
for EGO orl)its.
sul)systems, and the like.
A special l>m'l)ose (elemetlw system ('al)al)le of
The System Test Station in the van consists
operating from an experiment whose output is
of an RF monitoring system, a command gener-
an F3[ sigmfl varying from 3()() t(> 10(),()()0 eps
ator aim transmitter, a tal)e and strip chart
is l)rovide(l. Two other tootles of operation en-
recorder, basic instrumentation, telemet) 3, de-
al)le the transmission of tiara fr<)m up to five
co(ling and (lisplay equipmem, and a semiauto-
st anda r(l sul)('a trier oscilla(ors, or t ransm ission
matic test station. Recently a 4()96-word stor-
(if the output of the wi(le-l)and teleme(1T sys-
a_ze di_zital ('omputer was added by (,,_S FC to
tem. The latter mode is expe('te(] to lie used
process experimental data in real time in order
only in the evenl of failure of both 4-watt trims-
mitters. The sI>ecial purpose transmitter is to effect rapid checkout. All equil>ment may lie
rated at 1:2 watt at 400 Me. ol>erated from the operator's console, Figure 2-
16, whi('h iflso has data 'in(1 status (lisl)lays and
SYSTEM CHECKOUT AND TEST
is provide(l with win(h)ws through which the
'l'lw ()GO lms been designed to maximize the o[)eraior ('an o[)serve the ol)erat ions aroum| the
use of the spacecraft aim telemetry systeni in sl)a('e('raf) on the test floor.
22
ried out rapidly and repeatedly. Test. proce-

(lures are stored in punched paper tape that is
re'ul 1)y a photoelectric tape reader. The equip-
lnent is c,q)able of sending commands to the
sl)aeecraft and controlling the (lat'l decoding
equil)mem to observe the results on the space-
('raft of the receipt of the command. Data
from the telemet D' can be, scrutinized to _e that
they fall within acceptable limits. Measul_e-
ments may i>e tal<en :it timed iuiervals t<> de-
iermine that the trend of data f,dls within
proper limits. ['se of the SAT enables effi-
('ienl use (>f operating pers<mnel and tends to
minimize ol)erator errors. At the same time
the system is flexil)le. Test routines may be
FIGURE 2--16. System test station operator's console.
altered l>y in_erchano'ing the order of tests, by
Tile semiautonmtic test equipment (SAT), inl ro(hwin_r diao'nost ic 1)r()o'rams, or by l>mloh -
Reference 2_ enables test procedures to lre car- _u_" a new 1)rogram.
REFERENCES
1. CTLASER. P. F.. "The Orl)iting Geolfllysical Observntm'y Communication and Dahq

tIandling Systems," in : Proc. Nat. 7'ch, mctcrb_g Conf., Washington, May 1962, Vol. 2,
Paper 3-3.
2. DAvis, R. B., and Wl(anNS. E. T., "Automation for Spacecraft Ground Support Equip-
ment," in: Proc. Xat. Aerospace l_tstrltm(,ntati¢m ,'¢ympo.% Washington, May 1962,
Pittsburgh: Instrument Society of America (In press'
23
MISSION OF "IHE ADVANCED ORBITING
SOLAR OBSERVATORY
by
JOHN C. LINDSAY*
Goddard Space Flight Center
The existen<'e of life and activity oil earth (lust l)articles. Furthermore, satellites nlake
(lel)ends on sohn' energy. Inlerest in the sun is i( 1)ossil)le to slu(lv the v_l('ltlllll u]iraviole(_
thus stronKly nlolivated by an interest in the x-ray, and 7"aliiliia ray radiations fi'oiil the sun
effects it l>rodu('es oil the earlh, but it is also that al'e at)sorl)e(l in lhe earlh's allliOSt)here.
nioiivated 1)y the fact llmt the sun is the only

FIRST ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY (OSO I)
star we can hope to study at ('lose range--an
averao'e star wJiose study is necessary to our This liew ei'll_ in the study of the ,_un front
understamling of other stars. al)ove 1he ol)aqiie and i lii't)iilenl sea of a ii'--Olll'
The sludy of the smi may 1)e (,onsidered to ailnosliiiere---lruiy t)egan with the successful
have its begimling with (bdileo, who, after <'on- laun(!lihi 7 of (lie th's[ ()rliiling _olar ()bserva-
stru('lin V the first (eles('ol)e in I(;I0 A.I)., spent (or,v (Pie'(ire ;l-1 ) on March 7> 19(;7. Prior to
several yeal_ inves( iga( inV the sun and sunsl)O(
t)ehavio)'. The sun has been actively observed
fronl lhat. el)och (o tlie present time. Now i(
is l)ossit)le--through intern:,tional cooperation
nil(let tile auspices of tile Inter)intional Astro-
nomi('al ['nion--for (lie sun to 1)e kept under
as nearly ('on(im,)us ot)servations as is possible
from ground-l)ased ot)serv'ltories.
With the advent of (lie sateHilc o})servatories,
con)im,)us ol)servaIions are l)ossil)le without
(.on('ern for the restri('tions of weather, seeing t,
('ond itions, or suitable groml(l-1)ased locations
for an ot)servatory as is a l)roblem in the Pa-
t.ill(! ()('ean reg'ioi,. Two possibilities exist for
('on(inuous solar ol)servations from relatively
low alii(u(le satellites. They are: (wo s'liel- _i .;_
lites pr()perly phased in near-equiiorial orhi(s, l,'l(;l'tlE ;/ 1. Firs! ()rl)iliiig S()hlr ()l)st,rv,'ilory
()r a sin_z'le salelli(e in a retrograde full sunli( ((iN() It.
orl)ii. Natelliie ol)serva(i()ns also have (he a(1-
vantage thai (hey allow the ()l)ti('nl resolution the laun(.h of (he ():'40 I spa('e('rafi (I(.)6:2 _ I),
lo I)(, (ru b" (liiI')'a('ii())_-linlile(l, sill('(, ihel'e is n() nieaslli'eineliis (if st)Jar radiations (hat are al)-
"shitmnering'" due 1<) a(ni()sl)heri(' (ll)'l)lil(,l)('(,
s()rbe(1 in the alinosl)iiei'e ]lilt1 1teen lilade front
:tild there is n() s('alteri))_" (hie I() atni()sl)heri( + 1)allot)its, i'ockels, and rathei" _{liip]o eal'th saiel-
liies. As a resnJl (if lhe val'ious reslri(!tions ilii-
*At)S() I':.oi(,(.( S<.h,nti_t. (l()(l(l+ti'(l Sl):)<.e Flight
( '(qltPl'. l)osed l)y these le('Jiliiqlles,, ]iowevel',, i( was llOi
25
possible to achieve a reasonable de_ree of con- can be seen, the 304 line is enhanced by approxi-
tinuity in these many spectral regions. This mately 30 percent, whereas the 284 line is in-
llas now been ac('onq)lished }_y the ()St). The creased by a t'a('tor of al)l)roximately 2.5.
characteristics of tile spa(.eeraft that made this In Figure 3-3, tim variations in the solar
ix, rformance possil)le were the ability of the coronal flux are shown and a comparison is
spa(.e('raft to 1)oint instruments accurately ,tt nia(le between the green ('orolml line and the
the sun, a circular orbit 1)elow most. of the Fe XV 284A line, as well as an Fe XVI 335A
radiation belt but ah(ne the al)l)re('iable atmos- line. It can 1x__en that the ('orrehttion between
phere, and a tape recorder daia storage system these lines is reasonably good, showing that
that supplied practically comt)lete orbit cov- ('hanges in the intensity of the 284A and 335A
erase (Reference 1). .Ks an illustration, dur- lines occur because of plage aetiviiy (non-flare
ing the first three months of operation the space- condition) on the sun.
craft obtained over three times as much data Information of this type is important not
in the 1 h) 10A x-ray region as had previously only to solar physicists but also {o geophysicists
been acquired, and over 4000 times the data who are interested in the effect of solar radia-
1)reviously a('quired of the sun's sI)ectrmu from tions (m the ionosphere. It allows the geophysi-
50 to 400A. There were other measurements of cist, in lieu of actual solar ultraviolet measure-
x rays (:_0 to 100 key) and gamnm rays (100 nlents, to dr'tw reasonal)le conclusions as to
key to 3 Mev, and 50 to 2,00 Mev). variations in these ionizing radiations from
As an illustration of the type of dqta OSO I knowledge of the solar activity indices, such
will provide, the 50 to 400A spectrometer data as the green line of Fe XVI. In addition to
consist of three types : quiet sun data ; data that the behavior l)altern of these two spectral
represent the effect of solar activity, such as lines--of which we are just beginning to get a
1)lage groups: and data arising as "t, result of reasonable knowledge--there are over 100 lines
a solar flare.* Enhancement of the spectra as in the spectral region to be analyzed, and an
as result of a flare is shown in Figure 3-2. As interpretation must I_ made concerning the
data.
*Private eommuni(.ntion with Messrs. Neupert _lnd The advent of earth-orl)iting laboratories as
Werner.
a tool for solar research ]lad been looked for-
ward to 1)y many 'tstronomers as one of the
most im])ortani developments since the inven-
tion of the teleseoi)e. Although OSO I was an
iml)ortant slep along the way, it. would be un-
true to assmne thai, it rel>resents the fulfillment,
of the solar astronomers' dream ; for OSO I was
limited in its (:apat)ility. These restri(qions
were due to the radler limited pointing aeeuraey
(1 arc re(mite in two axes), the limited space
c
'rod weight available to perform pointed experi-
ments (8 x 8 x 38 inches with a weight of less
than 7() pounds), and the restricted orbit alh)w-
ing only al)out 60 percent observation.
ADVANCED ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY

/ v
i
What, then, is the mission of the Advanced
284 304 335
()rl)itin_ Solar Observatories ?
I I ] I I I [ [ I
240 260 280 300 320 340 360 380 400 It is nothino" more than 1o provide lhe _phis-
WAVELENGTH (ongstroms)
(teated sl)a('ecraft nec.essatw to advance the
PIUURE 3 2. Sl)e('trum of quiet "llid active sun. st tidy of the sun-earth relations and to study
26
MISSION OF ADVANCED ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY
the sun as a star from the vantage point of the 4. Energy transport from the sun to the
e_u'th.
spacecraft orbit. This is the general mission,
_md it is not possible to be much more specific.
The reason for this is that a long delay exists The Energy Storage Phenomena in the PreoFlare
Active Region
between the concept of a spacecraft and the
first, launch. For example, the t)lamfing of the The most l)rolnising source for the flare en-
present OSO I was begun in Februa D' 1959, ergy is in the localized high-intensity mag-
with the first launch occurring in March 196 ° . netic fields assoeiated with centers of activity.
For the Advan(!e(t ()rbiting Solar ()bservatol 3, Severny has made obsevvations al)l)earing to
([lelios), the initial planning was done in the eslal)lish lhat the origi,, of a ttare is associated
Spring of 19(;1--with the first launch, hope- with the instability of these magnetic fiehts.
flflly, in 196(;. Thus, guessing what the solar tlis observat ions show changes in the field from
physicist will need to observe in 196(; and on bcfore to after a flare; however, work at Mr.
into the 1970's is the problem. .ks an illustra- Wilson does not confirm these ob_rvations
tion of the type of problems that scientists
(Reference 2).
might attempt, to study by using experiments
Magnetograms are now made at several
on Helios, we shall consider the following
ground-based observatories. However. one
aspects of solar flares :
(liflieulty is that usually only one magnetogram
1. The energy storage phenomena in the pre-
can be made per (lay becau_ of air turlmlenee.
flare active region.
2. The flare mechanism for energy." release. At pre_nt the magnetic fields of ('enters of ac-
3. The manifestations of the energy relea_. tivity can be measured only from ground-based
(a) Electromagnetic radiation. observatories. Ih)wever, with an improved
(b) Particle flux. sl)a(.ecvaft there may exist methods of making
• GREEN CORONAL LINE (FE XlV)
• RED CORONAL LINE (FE X)
• 284A (Fe XV)
700 -- -$ 335A (Fe XVl) -- 35
600 -- -- 30
• •
¢5
500 -- __2s z
Z
• 0
I
•1
400 _20_
Z
--15 "_
••
t) 300 -- • • • •
m, -- IO
--5
o I I I I I I I I I I I I I I o
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 1 3 5 7
MARCH 1962 APRIL 1962
FIOURE3--3. Variations of solar coronal flux.
27
THE OBSERVATORY GENERATION OF SATELL|TES
superior magnetogr;uns of 1he sun frmn aDoec Manifestations of the Energy Release
the alniosphere.
()I)servations ;ll MI. Wilson have shown that The energy rele;Ised from the sun during a
flare is usually detected by observing the sun's
tllet'(_ is a striking oorresl>o|/dence between
elecl r(}nl;ignetic radiations, either fl'om ground
cah'ium-phlge regions and ma_'neiic fields. ,qnd
observat<wies or froni rockei and satellite ol)-
it has been ('onc]uded thai the close c()rresl)ond-
servalories. In ihe visible reo-ion of the
en('e in m(>si small sir.('iura] details between
spectra ihe II ;dphil and cillcium II and K lines
c:dcium l)lages and the magnetic fiehl indicated
are ilie mosl frequently used.
a real physical relation. I{o('ket spectrohelio-
It is re;isonabh, to exl)e('t that the ultraviolet
grams (Reference :_;) of the hydrog_'en Lylnan-
lines of hydrogen, helium, ;uid the lines of
all)ha line show more <'<lntrast ;rod ;ire coarser
hi_'hl.v ionized iron observed from ill(, orbiiin_
than lhose ol)lained in <':dciunl K or hydrogen
solar <_l)servat()ries will add importan[ llew
all)ha. The hydrogen I,ynian-llll)hn is be-
knowh,(lge to the thu'e nlechanisln.
lieved to <)rig|hate hi_her in the chromospliere
X-i'ay olJsei'v;itiOliS shouill lead to llew knowl-
lhan hy<lro_en all)h:l, whereas e:llciunl K oriel-
e/|Te COll('ei'nhl 7 flares, alil| qliile possibly will
miles htwer down. With hig'hly stabilized sal-
ahl hi lliialiil)i_2"llOUSly cl;lssifyhig llal'e iypes
elliles it would lie l)OssilJle lo study [he growth
;liid sizes. (i. Flwerl has theoretically studied
and de<'av of centers of activity :it various alti-
lhe 7eileJ'iilion of lhe vacilllili u]irlivio]et ilii(l
lu(les within the sol;ir alin()sphere tiy recorded
X-l'l/V l'illii;ItiOll <if the SliD. Ilis results indi-
sl)eetroheliovranls in seleeied va('uun_ ultra-
te|ire lhat x l'liyS of 10A nnd lonTer lll'e enlitfed
violel and x-ray emission lines <>r wavelength
1):rods. fJ'Olii the COl'ona] of lhe quiet siiYl, whel'eas x
rays fJ'Olii 0.| N) 10A lll'e expected from lower
The Flare Mechanism for Energy Release ill llie sOllli' ainl[_sl)here ovej' 'lcihe l'eo'ioJts sHch
iis fliires. The inlegr;ited x-ray flUX 1)elow SA

Although the ideas <if energy storage forni n ;ii the earl]l's distance froni the quiet sun ix
reasonable picture, much work is required to at)out ]0 -c>erg/(.lli:-se( ,. The hiiensity h'ls boeFl
establish their valid|iv and lo extend the theo-
ol)sel've(I lo hit're;ise |iV three io four orders o£
l'ies of flare pllenomena. Various suggestions nrio'nitli(|e (|urin.t2," flare :lcliviiy. An iinl)rove(l
for exl)lainin_" the fl:/re lne<'hanisnl have l_ee_
Sl);lce('r;ifl WOil]_l llliike it l)ossible to sludy tile
proposed, based on ideas such as file building areas of origin (if' l]iis flux eli lhe Sill|.
up of ch;n't_'e densiiy with ;i subsequent elec-
trical disch;/rtze, m;Itznetic pinch effects, l<>enl Energy Transport from the Sun to the Earth
cMn_'es in ('onductivity, lhe rate (if <,hange of
It is quite liossible lhat all flares eject l);U '-
the ma_neri(' flux, etc. The presently favored
titles. Ih/wever, such particles are iiOt el)-
idea ix iliat the flare is e<mnected with a
served lit the e;Irt]l f(tlh>wing every flare. It
('ollal)se of the niao-neiic fiehl. Since in the
luls been siiK_2"este(I b.v (_ohl lhiil ;i inill.t'netic
ehroniosl)heric-cor()n;d phlsni;l |lie lines of force
Iuile gui(les tile lilU'ticies throuo'h hiierl)hlne-
nre '_fr(>zen'" into llle nia[ter, ilie nlal/er col:
lary sli;ice , (h,leJ'iiiinin 7 whether they hnl);i01
]:q)ses wiih |lie flehl, l=nder such ('(Jn(liiions,
ihe region of lhe elirlh. Optical ille;lSlll'ellieilfS
ultraviolet and x-ray eniission is enhanced.
fl'(/ili :i siiacecr;ifl have :l 7oo(| possit)ility of
Measurements (>f the vacuuni uliravi<>le( and
deteci ino" these illaKllel i(' Irlllies, oY ,_,o/u_, ,_tr<wu;-
x-ray sl)eetruln of r:ldiati()n t'r()m a ('enter of ,r._'. The iiit'llSlll'elllelit-s wouhl ('onsist of ot)-
activity could be done froni ;I spacecraft and servilig the li_'hi scallere(| froni the sohu" I)ili'-
w(nild aid in deterniining the excitation teni- i icles asso('ialed with the nl;17neti(' field. These
l)er;iture ;aid eleciron <tensity. This infornia- slrel/iuers h;/ve heeii observed (hirhl_' eclipses:
lion will aid in unilerstandin_ flare i)henoin - ]lOwever. they ;lYe olis('lire(| |)y light s(';/ttere(1
elli/, fl'olil the alnioslihere <luring ilOl'iJlal seein_z.
28
M/SSfON OF ADVANCED ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY
I:_y studying lhe requirements ()f these pro- The l<>nv-term l>ointin_z accuracy is 5 arc see-
posed measurements, some of the required ends with a shm't-term jilter of no more than
spaeecrafl speciticalions can be formula_e<l. 0.5 'm_ second/second. ()n comnmnd_ the slmce-
For example, if specirohelio_zrams are Io be craft can lm poi,_led a[ any spol <m the sun. For
made with sufficient resolution to follow the f<>rmin_z imaKes al w_lvelen_zths shorter [han re-
life of cen|ers of activity, then 1-arc-second flect hm optics allow, a line scan can be formed
resolution will be ultimately required. To by scamping" the Slm('ecrafl. I)ala slora,/e ca-
obtain reasonable size spectroheliog'ram images lmcitv is 40 million ldls. Power available for
for use with a television camera aboard the experiments is 75 watts. The orbit is polar tel=
spacecraft, provision for adequate focal length rograde full sunlit.
optics is require<l. (A 10-fool focal len_h will Furllu, r infm'mation coneer!_in_ lhe spa('e-
pr<>duce a 1.13-ineh-dianleter solar image.) craft is included in the paper hy Mr. A. J.
By following this procedure for [he proposed ('ervenka, to be presented next in t his sessi<m.
me:lsuremenls and o!her observations of inter-
est, a set of 1)relimimtry specifications was ln'e -
pared. This were presented to a group of in-
terested astronomers at a meetin_ held for the
purpose at the tligh Altilude Observatory in
,June 1!)61. As a resuh of these discu_,dons, the
concept for the Adv,_m.ed ()rbitin/ Solar ()b-
servatory (Helios) was finalized.
EXPERIMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR AOSO
The proposed Advanced ()rbilin_ Solar ()b-

servalory (Figure 3-4) is a sl>aeeeraft about 10
feet long and 40 inches in diameter, weighing
al)out 1000 pounds. ()f lhis weighl, 2._it pounds
is reserved for experiments <)ccupyinff a cubic
volume of more than 45 cubic feet. It will be
FmUrE ?I_'. Artist's emmept of Advanced Orbiling
possible to tt)" a _l!-inch telescope, 1_) t'eet long. Solar ()bservatory I IIelios).
REFERENCES
1. DOLDER, F. P., I_ARTOE, O. E., _[ERCURE, R. C.. JR., GABLEHOUSE, R. H., and LINDSAY, ,'J'. C.,
"The Orbiting Solar Observatory SI)a<_eeraft," in: Space Research II1: Prec. 3rd
Interleaf. _'pace ,g'ei. ,g'!/mpo,s.., lVas/_iJ_gton, .lfay 1962 (In press). Also in: God(lard
Space Flight ('enter (!ontrilmtions to the ('OSPAR Meeting M'Lv 1.(R12, NASA Technical
Note I)-1669. l!Ri3, pp. 213-221.
2. nE JA(;ER, C., "The Development of a Solar Centre of Activity," in : Vi._ta._ i, Astro,mmy.
ed. by A. Beer. New York : I'ergaluon Press, 1961, Vol. 4, pp. ll;7-1(;S.
3. TOUSEY, R., Solar l{esear(.h from Rocl{ets," ,<eic_lcc 13t (3477) : 441_t48, August 18,
1961.
29
ONE APPROACH TO THE
ENGINEERING DESIGN OF THE
ADVANCED ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY
by
ADOLPH J. CERVENKA*
2 _: Goddard Space Flight Center
Tile Adwnmed Orbiting Solar Observatory (A()SO) l)roaches from which to choose. Three of these
is being designed by NASA speeifie'dly for extensive al)l)roaches resulted fronl the NASA-funded
and detailed studies of tile sun. The field of view of
design studies that were conducted by Ball
this ol)servat,)ry will extend to a distance (ff about 10
lh'others Research Corporation, Space Tech-
sun diameters frmn lhe center of tile disk : yet a 5-ar(.-
second pointing t)re(.isi(m l)ermits some 4(X) separate nology lml)oratories, and Relmt)lic Aviati(m
ol)servatiollS ill olle pass across ilia slln's dialll(,ter. Tile ('orl)orat ion. A fourth eel)roach in the product
A()S() (.an carry substantially heavier exl_riment puy- of tile (led(lard Space Flight Cen|er's (GSFC)
h*a(ls than the ()S(), and ils near-polar orbit provides
in-house studies conducted ()vet" the past year.
lhese exlterilnents with (.(mtinuous smdight for 9
months qfter lallneh. This paper is larffely a SUlmnary of the in-house
This paper sllnltnarizes the design study (.ondll(!ted act ivit ies on this project.
by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in which The design (fl)je('tive most commonly associ-
emllhasis was placed on stabilization and control of tile ated with lhe A()SO is its ±5-are-second point-
spaeeeraft--.i critical design area. In particular, sun
ing accuracy. For those working in the solar
tracker requirements were investigated in detail, and
l)hysics fiel(1, this ol)je('tive has consideral)le
tile coneel)tual design of a tra(.ker produced in the
study is described. The sun tracker work included Sigllificalwe, since it eel)resents an order-of-
experimental (lemonstrati[ms of the feasibility and magnitude iml)r(_vement over the first genera-
il('ellrll('y of t']SI'aC's (.oncept. and it apllel(rs that the lion of ()S()'s. For those who need a yar(tslick,
___2-ar(,-se(,ond ae(,llril(,y required of a gllll tracker 4'all
5 arc seconds is the angle a ffolf ball subtends
t)P att'lille(l. In the other subsystem areas, su(.h as
a! a distance of al)out 1 lnile: or, at earth dis-
(.ommmlieations, (hlta hall(ll[ng, and l)ower Sill)lily,
maximum use will Ix, nlade of te('hnoh_gy and hard- tance, 5 at<' se('onds represents over 2000 miles
ware develolled ill the eGO, OAO, and other programs. on the sun's surface. So, (let)ending on whether
The comnnlni('ations and data handlillff Oqllipment we are looking for golf balls or Sllll Sl)ots, this
being develoiled for OG() generally will sqtisfy AOSO
accuracy appears to t)e either excellent or still
requirements.
I'Rt }let' ('oa rse.
To meet the space(waft design requirement of a 70-
per(.ent ])rol)at)ility of a 1-year ol)eratimmI life. re- The 'Ulffle of resolution will actually ap-
dundant ('(nnl)onents will he used extensively. This proach ±l see(rod of arc, since jitter will be
al)lWoa('h 1)ermits tile use of roe(lily available parts,
limite(t to that vahle: and the jitter rate will
bllt the initi'd Slmee('raft weight estimates ex(,ee(I the
be limited to 0.5 arc second per second of time.
payload (,al_ahility of a Thor Agena lamlch vehiele.
IIowever. it is felt that this limit rel)resents a reason- The +_5-arc-se('oml pointing accura('y will 1)e
:d)le weight goal : and stn(lies to achieve it are attainable over a 4()-milmte-of-ar(' square, cen-
(.ontinllillg. tered on the smFs disk. It will have less point-
INTRODUCTION
ing 1)re('ision ( ±l arc minute) in the oullying
The A()S() project in in its formative stage, areas, extending t() a l()-ar('-(leffree S<luare. In
and there are at present several (leslie ap- addition, the sl)a('ecrafl will be capat)le of pro-
vi(li,ff raster scans anywhere within this 10-
* AOSO Project .Manager, G[)ddar(1 Spa(.e Flight
('ellter. de_zree fiehl. ()n command, a 40-arc-mimlte
31
raster scan having 120 lines (approximately 20- year, and it is desired that the regression kee l)
arc-second spacing) can I)e 1)rovided within 30 the line of nodes of the orltit perpendi('ulav to
mimltes of time for the complete frame. A the sunline. Expressions were deveh)ped to
5-arc-minute raster scan can also be provided compute the amount of eclipse l)er ort)it_ and
anywllere within the 4t)-arc-nfinute square cen- also the t)ortion of a year the e('lil)sed orbits
tered on the sun. These point ing and scan capa- would occur.
l)ilities are summarized ill Figure 4-1. Figure 4-2 l)resents the maxhnun, amount of
! 10 °
'TYPICAL 5-ft RASTER SCAN TYPICAL 40-ft RASTER SCAN 40I--
I_- 4o'-_-I
_3of \
60 LINES z '.,
5 in. SPACING 7--_st- _÷,
5 min TIME TYPICAL OFFSET POINT .r.
120 LINES
20 ;n. SPACING lsl-
_ 101.-
25 men TIME a.
I0 °
40' 5H
01 I I t _.)./ j t t
0 200 4_ 6oo eoo'lsoo2ore 22oo aoo 26oo
O- 800 ORBITAL ALTITUDE (nautical miles ) 1800 - 2500
X POINTING ACCURACY
in. WITHIN THIS SQUARE
NOTE:
FmuaE 4-2. Percent of orbit in eclipse for eireular
5-ft RASTER WILL ALWAYS BE LOCATED orbits.
WITHIN THE 40-ft SQUARE THAT IS CENTERED
ABOUT THE MEAN SOLAR DISK.
,L,,
,N POINTING ACCURACY I ft WITHIN 10 ° SOUARE eclipse per orbit for various orbital altitudes
th.tt ideally could be obtained. Eclipse-free
FIGITRa] 4--1. AOSO pointing nnd s('nnning pattern. orbits begin at an altitude ,)f 744 nautical miles
and (,ontinue to 1813 nauti(.a] miles. 'At this al-
Some additional, althougll less dranlatic, in- titude, eclipsed orbits begin again 1)eeau_ of
formation regarding" experiment cal)abilities is the decrease in tile orbilal inclination required
that the volume avaihll)le to carry the experi- |o maintain tile desired orl)ital regression rate.
ments measures 37×37 inches normal to, and The eclipse-free region t)elween 744 and 1_13
60 inches in the direction of, the sun. Total nautical miles wouht t)e selected if lhis were
exl)erinlent weigh/ limit is 25O pounds. tile only fa('tor, tlowever, consi(ler:tlions su(,h
A basil' requirement ()f a solar observatory is as Van Allen belt radiation and redu('ed orbital
th'at it see the sun (luring as mu('h of its life 1)ayload ('al)ability at high altitudes led to the
as t)ossil)le, since the large payload and ac- selection of a 3tl0-nauti('al-lnile m-lilt. At this
('uvale l)ointing ('apal)ililies of the At)S() are altitude, the satellite will ideally experience '23-
of no value during an eelil)se. Therefore ('on- pert'one dark lime (hn'in_ its most el'Ill)seal orbit.
sideral)le attention was given to the selection Additional ('ah'ldali(ms for ibis altitude indi-
of an orl)il that wouhl have it large prol)ortion ealed lhat either.of two laun(:lt l inles will result
of full sun time. In this study, it taupe of ot'- in orbits with no e,:lipse o('(.urring for a maxi-
I)ital altitudes from 50 to 25(t(I nauti_.al miles mum number of days following hunwh. These
was considered. In(.limlti(m angles wel'e coln- hlun('h limes are August 12 at 1400 GMT and
lm(ed for all the orbits investigated to give the Fel)ruary 6 at 02()0 (_MT. In either case the
hlea] regression rate of ().987)(;(legree/(lay. This hlunch should t)e in a southwest direction front
regression ra(e is requh'ed to provhle nlaxi- the Pacific Missile Range (PMR) in order to
Ill[llll l]llle ill sunlight lot' all (lines during the ()blain an orl)ita] in('linati,)n of S2.4 (le_rees.
32
DESIGN OF ADVANCED ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY
Tile August 1'2 launch produces eclipsed orbits is the Thor Agena. For a 300-nautical-mile
ill ttle summer, and tile February 6 httutch pro- polar orbit, the Thor Agena has a total payload
duces eclipsed orbits in the winter. Either capability of 946 potmds. Included in this
launch date will result in 267 days of orbits weight are items such as adapters and separa-
with full sunlight and 98 days of eclipse, the tion devices. For a non-polar orbit_ an addi-
maximum ex;li'l)se time being 23 percent of the tional weight I)enalty of 8 lb/degree retrograde
orbit period. The_ times do not include the ef- would alst) be suffered. These items limit the
fects of injection errors in launch t.ime, inclina- actual payload capability to about 840 pounds
tion angle, and altitude. Examples of launch- for an 82.4-degree retrograde orbit.
time variations on the full-sunlight orbit are The dimensional limitations imposed on the
smnmarized in Ta'ble 4-1. The effe('ts of other spaeel'raft are shown in Figure 4-3, which shows
TABLE 4-1
Effect, of I_unch-Time Variation on Orbit 12.00"R*
Effect of Launch
Window _L_ STATION 21.5000 e
Days
After i Launch Window (min)
Optimum Days I Days Lost
Lost For For + Limit I,_ I _,_ / 2BOO'DIAM
-- Limit SECTION A A
i't'i\ " "

--
--9.
13.
0.0to
0 to
6 to
+19.3
+26.
+31.
4
2
0
0.6
1.9
3.3
5.7
8.3
'l I i
i
--18. 4 to +36 3.1 11.1
55.00"
OBSERVATORY STATIC
DIAM.
errors were also est ilnated,

of the maximum eclipse
particularly
time per
in terms
orbit that
TYPICAL SHROUD
d
r
i
J
m...._. A ERODYNAMIC
ENVELOPE
SHROUD
.... STATION 198.500

shotfld be used as a spacecraft design criterion.
These cah'ula'tions showed that a 35-percent
eclipse time could reasonably be expected, and __..__if- STATION 244.500
--" _ STATION 245.500"

this value was used in estimating spacecraft _.00"
sltbsystem design requirements. O.D. e
SPACECRAFT DESIGN REQUIREMENTS DETAIL B )

GENERAL NOI_S:
The speci'fications for the A(_S() have been
described thus far mainly from a scientific in- STATION NUMBERS & DIMENSIONS MARKED WITH ASTERISK * DEFINE
BASIC AGENA =B _ SHROUD GEOMETRY.
strument standpoint. In formulating these
THE MINIMUM STATIC CLEARANCE BETWEEN THE SPACECRAFT
specifications, consideral)le attention was given ENVELOPE & SHROUD STRUCTURE IS 2.75 INCHES.
to their engineeriug implications with regard

Fz(;u]{z 4-3. Observatory static envelope.
to the launch vehicle and spacecraft require-
nlents. The .pointing and scan capabilities of
the observatory generally define the shtbiliza- an outline of the Agena shroud and the space-
tion and control system requirements. Some craft's maximum dimensions. The sl)acec.raft
other re(ltfirements and restrictions used in the diameter is limited to 55 inches and the length
spacecraft desi_'n study are deseril)ed in the to 132 inches; however, an experiment could
following se('t ions. i)roject an additiomtl 50 inches forward into
t he con ical port ion of tlie shroud.
Launch Vehicle
A smmnary of launctl h)ads and motion as-
The launch vehi('le recommended as most de- sumed is as follows: a(.celeratioll aft,, 8.6 g's;
sirable fronl a (:()st alld relial)ility standpoint lateral, 2.0 g's; vii)ration, tt) 3.5 g's rms at a
33
nmxhnmn frequently of :{()()()cps; shock values, SUBSYSTEMS DESIGN

to 5.5 g's. 5OUlld pressure inside the shroud is
The basic configuration approach as shown
assumed to reach 138 decibels.
in Figure 4--t consists of a spacecraft subsys-
The spacecraft residual motion rates at sepa-
tems compartment, sobu' cell paddles, and the
ration were assumed to be, in degrees per
second : SOLAR ARRAYS
Pitch--O. 1 COMPARTMENT 551n_ DIAM.,
Yaw --0. 05 SPACECRAFT SUBSYSTEM
Roll --0. 3
HEATExPERIMENT_
__/._SHIELD NO LAUNCH VEHICLE
Tracking and Data Handling PACKAGE _ •
It is assmued that the entire Minitrack net-

OPTICAL _ <
work is available as a data-gathering system.
Prime data-qcquisition stations will be at the AXIS "_
following locqtions: Rosman, North Carolina;

SUN TRACKER /
Q uito, Ecuador: Fairbanks, Alaska; Australia;
TYPICAL EXPERIMENT PORTS
South Africa; and Santiago, Chile.

The stations will have 40- or 85-foot anten- FmURE 4-4. Concet)tual configuration of AOSO.
nas. ()ther equipment in a tyl)ical Minitrack

station will include l)hase demodulation ; diver- expeI'inlent box. Not shown in the schematic
sit 5" coml)ination: I)('M sigmd conditioning; is the transition _ction that connects the space-
quick-look equil)nLent for FM/FM, PCM, and craft to the Agena bot)ster. In addition to
PFM station ol)erational checks: and auto- transmitting tile launch loads, this section also
matic-tracking alltelwtas. When no project l)l'ovides the dimensional transition from the
i)ersonnel are located at the station, then equip- 57-inch Agemr sul)l)ort ring to the 55-im'h
ment unique to the project and necessary for spacecraft diameter.
satisfactory operation is also located in that X (,ylindrical sl)acecraft subsystenls COIlleigllr -
al'ea.
at ion was selected from structural, thernlal, and
Reliability volume considerations. For example, to mini-
The ground rule on reliability is that the mize thermal control problems, it, is desirable to
sp:wecraft will have a predicted 70 percent or mount all the subsystem comlmnents on one
betler reliability for an orbital operation of 1 plate that will radiate heat directly 1o sl)ace.
year. A cir('ular or octago]ml i)late wouhl provide the
Experimental Data Capacity mounting surface required for all the subsys-
tems within the 55-inch-diameter limitations.
The experimental data-storage capacity spe-
From a fabrication point of view, the circular
cifie(t is 43.2 × 10 '; bits. Data handling equip-
I)late and cylinder ix siml)ler 1o produce an(I
merit ix to have the capability for either storage
or real-time transmission as given in Table 4-'2,. hence less exl)ensi re, and was therefore selected.
The experiment COml)axtment is shown as a rec-
TABL_ 4-2 tangular box--since this is the shape given in
Data Handling Equipment Capability the design stu(ly sl)ecificalion--and allows the
solar arrays to be folded up around it during
No. of D,'ord ! Bit Rat,'
Source of Experimental l)ata lamwh. The experiment I)a('kage consists of a

Measure- l,ength i tl its/s,t')
illeilts i
thermal shield, an experiment SUl)porl struc-
ture, and tile exl)eriment:;. 'l']w thermal shield
hnaged .......... 5 8 3800
has aperlm'es in the fa('e normal to the solar
Scanned ........... 5 16 i 640
Non-scanned_ __ 15-2 8 i 200 radiation to admit the Zwluisite radiation into
i the experiments and the fine sun Iracker.
34
Structure propriate cotltin_zs, nnlterials, insulators, and

ihernial <'<rapiers so that the radial shell will lie
From lhe foregoing discussion, it is seen that
it good lhernial radiator to space and il inini-
part of tile spacecraft structure is tile subsvsieni
iiilllil iil)._>i'lter of lherina] ellei'gy fro|it exlerllal
mountin,_ bulkhead and the cylindrical outside
SOllrees.
wall of the subsystem compartnlent. Tile addi-
tion of a second lmlkhead belween the subsys- The basic (lesi_'n approach to the experiment
ieni conil)artinent and the exlierhnent l)acl(a/e package prollleln is to build till extrelnely rigid
conil)ieles tile slruclure. This second lniikhead experinient sulll>ort structure, to provide an
is required to fulfill tile requirenlent of experi- isothernlal environment for it, and then to
liielit, lherliial isolation front the SllltSvstelii co|il- nlount all the elements with critical alignment
requirenienls (experinlents. sun tracker) t<>this
l)el|el|Is alld to provide a stabh_ liiOlllitiii_ plat-
tel'lit for lhe exlierinlenl package. structure. The function of the experinlent
The basic lead-carry|it 7 siruclure within tile package thernial shiehl is to provide an apllroxi-
prol)osed configuration of the spacecraft is COll- Ilialelv isotherllla] ellvirollinellt for /lie experi-
ceived to be as follows : lilelltS and Sllll tracker (Oll the experinient slip-
A gena-to-obser_atory tr(ms#/o_ ._.est/os : port structure) and to provide a floating

open truss structure structur,ll attachnlent for the experiment Sllp-
Nubsystem eomparhnent: reinforced mono- porl structure so tii,lt no structur,/1 distortions
toque circuhu" shell with two reinforced are tral_smitted to the rigid exlierilnent support
metal honeycOllll) lllllkheads structure. The thermal shield has four load
l'_m/)<)r/m<'l# ];<'<t/ ._'D/e/d: reinf<irced mol/o- llaths lln'ou_'h it, one at each eorller. The ideal
toque structural altachnient for the exlieriinent sup-
E._7>er/m<'xd ._',ppor/ x/r,ct,re : hollow nieial llort structure would seem to tie three points at
lioneycoinll beani supl>orted sit tile cenier tim cellt or of the IIltlSS of tile e;r/ler/mes#..c'upport
of gravity structure, xust /r, c1"er assembly. This consid-
The entire structure will he fabricated front eration may dictate that the experinlent package
ahnninuin_ or possibly nia_c_ilesiuin il]loys, be- ctmfiguratioll he eylin(lieal rather than rectan-
('illlSe ele the stringent weight pl'oblenl inllmsed gular. For the tinie heing, it will he assunied
tliat a follr-point flolitill_ attaehnienl can lie
by tile lallll(.h vehMe payload cal)abilit}-.
The evahlation of load i)aths Sllirls with tile conceived to attach directly to the four longi-
eight Agelltl ]_(tl'd l>O/_t,_.. Eight load paths tudinal hlad-earrving nielnbers in lhe lhermal
would elliot" the nioiic_'oque cireulal' shell of the barl'ier_ so iliat heat will not t)e transferred into
Sllbsysteln alld it is proposed
COlllt)arllllPlll _ tile siipl>ort strllcture t)y the tllernia] shield.
herein to conlbine adjacent pairs of load liatlis Materials, coatin_zs, and insulation used for the
within tlle shell s) ilia| there are four load exl)erinient sul>l)ort structure 'ill(| thernla] con-
paths at the forward llulkllead of the mll)systeni trol lit,list satisfy the following reqlliremelitS:
eolnI)artllielll to provide Slll)|)ol'l fop the four Ttie exiel'nal faces of tlle thermal siliehl inllSt
corliers of the exlierilllelll heal shield, The radiale lhernia] energy 1o space; the front face
combining of load 1laths will require exl I'a ]oad- of the lhernia] shield lillist licce|)l only the
carryin</ inenibers wilhin the circular shell. lililiiliilini alnOlllit of solar energy cousistent
The two liulkheads sit either en{t of tile COllll)arl- with the eflh'ient operation of the exlierinlents
and the sun tracker: the internal faces of the
lilelit are basically circlliar flat l/lares that re-
quire stifl'enin 7. Both open truss alld conlposite thermal shield must absorb radiated thernlal
shear well Ileal|is were c(>nsidere(1. Since all energy from the exlieriments and the sun track-
subsystem <'ompol_ents are to he mounted on lhe er, and transfer it adeqnately to the external
afl bulkhead ill a eaniilever fashioli, the extra surfaces: the experinients it|liSt lie suitably
l>laie-stiffening nlenibers are enlplove<l to se- coated and niounted so that the maxinnun
cure the forward end of ally COliil)olient that re- alllOlllll of therlllal ellel'_v iS radiated alld SO
quires it. The shell structure inusi have 'lp- that tile assenit/ly of experinient, supl>ort strnc-
_15
ture, and sun tracker will quickly reach and system. In t)oth cases, rate infomnation is from
maintain thernml equilil)rium even during a rate gyro mounted parallel to each c,ontrol
l)eriods of 1)artial or full solar occultation. axis. Results of this study showed that mag-
net ic torquing is not a feasil)le means for initial
Stabilization and Control
acquisition, <)wing to l]le large i)ower require-
The lmrpose of the attitude stabilization and merits and lon_z acquisition time. The cold gas
control subsystem is to t)rovide the very preci_ jet system proved superior to the magnetic
pointing and scan capability required of the torquing, requiring only O.O5 pound of nit rogen
spacecraft. Various control concepts were in- a!l(l 13.'.29seconds of lime for acquisition.
vestigated before the system sl.),a'n in Figure Initial stal)ilization and acquisition are conl-
4-5 was evolved. The major COml)onents of this pleted with the acquisition of .stellar reference.
Normal Orientation--The normal orientation
subsystem consist of a ._.ttn tracker to provide
pitch and yaw information and ,_tar trackers anode follows initial acquisition. The sun
for roll control. Control actuat ion is by means tracker and the reference star sensor si_mls
of three orthogonally mounted inertia wheels; control spacecraft orientation. During normal
momentum unloading of the wheels is per- orientation, the optical axis of the observator T
formed with magnetic torque coils. During is pointed at the geometric center of the sun,
initial stal)ilization and acquisition control, and the control requirements are determined by
actuation is provided })y a ('old gas jet system. the disturbance lorques acting on the space-
Figure 4-5 indicates the normal flow of infor- craft. The momentum imparted to the ot)serva-
mation, as well as l)ossil)]e backup modes of tory by these disturt)ances is transferred to the
operation in the event of failure of one or more inerli;t wheels. It is estimated that the total
of the sybsystem coml)onents. Although not momentum absorbed per orbit by lhe l)itch,
shown in the diagram, re(hmdant sun lrackers yaw, and roll axes wheels is 0.42, 0.005, and 0.0
are anticipated. ft-lb/sec respectively. The wheels can be un-
The operation of the c()ntrol system can be loaded on a conlilltlOUS basis by nmgnetic
illustrated by an examiml!ion ()f the rOml)onent torquing, but once I)er orbit would be, sufficient
functions during the following control modes: 1)ecause of the large momentum storage capa-
Initial stabilization an(I acquisition bility inherent in each wheel.
Normal oriental ion Offs.et Pointing--Offset pointing is the capa-
Offset l)oint ing bility of directing the observatory optical axis
Raster scanning to any position in a 10-degree square centered
Solar occultation and reacquisition on the sun. Normal orientation is a special
[n;t;,l ,¢tab;1;z,t;on ,rid .lcqu;._';/ion--The case of off_t pointing where the offset 1)osition
A()S() will 1)e inserted in a :_00-nautical-mile is zero. Slewing to any offset position will be
near-polar orbit, with possible residual tmn- accomplished by rommanding the appropriate
1)ling rates being as high as 1 degree/sec about coordinates and rate-limiting the ol)servator T
each axis. A time of one orl)it period, approxi- mot, ion.
mately 96 minutes, has been allotted for initial Roaster Scan Mode--The raster scan mode pre-
tie! uml)ling and acquisit ion. sents the most demanding requirements on tlle
During the initial stal)ilization and acquisi- AOSO attitude control system. Problem areas
lion mode, control system infl)rlnation is ob- arise in obtaining optimum lorque to reverse
taine(1 from the rate-inter'rating gyros (in rate the mot ion of the observatory at the COml)lelion
mode) and from the ('oarse sun sensor. of each scan line as well as in maintaining the
The feqsibility of two metho(ls of initial desired 5-are-second accuracy. The reference
stal)ilization was studied. The first method util- variable for the yaw control loop will be a digi-
izes mabrnetic torquing 1)y means of reaction tal saw tooth with rounded corners tailored to
with the earth's magnetic field, and the second suit the specific system. Consideration of the
method involves torquing with a cold gas jet yaw reference variable corner is important, be-
36
cause the torque applied for turnaround de- single giml)al is u_;ed for increased reliability,
l)ends on the am(rant of momentmn stored in and two trackers are required because any de-
the inertia wheel. By tailoring the reference sirable reference star will 1)e oeeultated at least
variable and the inertia wheel motor eharae- once during an orbit. A correction prism is
teristies, an efli('ien! repealable turnaround that needed for one of the star trackers because two
is independent of the stored momentum can be stars cannot 1)e found that are exaet.ly diametri-
achieved. The reference variable for the pitch- cally opposed.
axis loo|) is a _ries of steps apl)lied during yaw A'olar Oecultat;o_ a_d Reaequ, i,_'#io'n--Anal-
! m'naround. ysis of tl_e obserwttol'y launch and orbit shows
Roll-axis ('ontrol is ol)fifined with two single- lhat, with three-sigma insert ion errors, 35 min-
tzimbaled star traekez_. The trackers are gim- utes of solar eclil)se can t)e expected during some
baled abmlt the observatory pitch axis and can oft)its for 3 months of the mission. During this
retain the referenee star in the field of view time, drift due to external disturbances reaches
only by allowing the observatory to roll. A such a magnitude as to preclude reacquisition
COMMAND
AND FUNCTION
REFERENCE
GENERATOR
I DISTURBA
TORQUES
NCE
SOLAR_ 5IEL°_R
C D (STAR TI_CKER
FAILURE) PITCH
SUN REFER_ SUN TRACKER I
SUN REFERENCE
TRACKER FAILURE
OBSERVATORY MOTION
(INTEGRATING)
BACKUP MOMENTUM UNLOAD
EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD
EARTH'S MAGNETIC
F IE LD INFORMATION _',.'/
STAR OF OPPORTUNITY
[STAR TRACKER FAILURE)
GIMBA L LOCK
STAR REFERENCE
STAR REFERENCE
FIGURE 4-5. Stabilization and control subsystem.
37
in the sped'tried time. Two sensors are avail-

able to provide attitude information for active
control during solar occultation : a star tracker, I I I I__
and the yaw-star sensor. The yaw-star sensor is

mounted so as to face in the opposite direction
of the sun tracker. This sensor locks on a star
of opportunity and, in conjunction with the
star tracker, provides the necessary inertial ref-
erence. Rate/rate-integrating gyros in the in-
tegration mode can provide a backup. The
yaw-star sensor was suggested t)y Space Tech-
nologs. Lal)oratories,
study contractors;
Inc., one of the AOSO
and iheir studies indicated
that, with the l)roper fieht of view, stellar lock-
1
on will be accoml)lished before the observatory
has drifted more than 6 degrees.
,gun Tracke_,--The AOSO Slnl tracker must
have the following characteristics to flflfill its
1)erformance.
arc when
requirements
1. A pointing accuracy
oriented
:
within
of I to '2 seconds of
a 40-arc-minute
J-[ oETEcTo
square centered Oll the sun, and an accuracy
FIGVRE 4_q. Rotating-slab sun tracker geometry.
of 1 minute of arc when outside of this _u,lre
and inside a 10-degree squalw centered on the sunlight passing through tlm glass nulls a
the sun.
l)hotosensitive detector. A 20-arc-second rota-
2. The capability to track on command tion of the slab corresponds to a 1-arc-second
within the above 10-degree square. angle of incidence of the sunlight. An existing
3. A tracking System bandpass of about 70 Baldwin digital encoder with an accuracy of
radians/sec. 20 arc seconds will measure the slab position;
4. Compatibility with a simple, reliable this readout will be coml)ared with the observa-
programming and command system. tory reference varial)le to form the error signal
5. A reliable and long-lived designL for lhe control system. A servomotor will l)O-
Since it is reeog3fized that the development sition the enco(ler and slab. The two units
of a sml tracker to meet these requirements described above, one for the pitch and another
would call for an extension of the state-of-the- for the yaw axis, comprise the tra<'ker. An iso-
art equivalent to that being attempted in the metric view of the sun tracker is shown in
case of the OAt) star tracker, a complete sun Figure 4-7. A most iml)ortant feature of this
tracker study is beyond the scope and intent of design is that the axes of the two slat_ are
tiffs paper. However, the sun tracker pl'oblem orthogonal. This permits commanding the
in general and the specific GSFC tracker will sun tracker in the same reference frame as the
I)e dis('ussed. satellite and considerat)ly reduces the complex-
Work on various approaches to sun tracker ity of the pointing command system.
design led to the rotating-slab design, in which During the process of studying sun trackers,
opera/ion del)ends on /lie refraction of light it 1)ecame al)l)arent that many interface prol)-
through a slab of glass. If the index of refrac- lems exist, one of which is the required com-
tion of the glass and its thickness are properly patibility between the tracker and the coin-
controlled, the angle of the light from the mm mand logic or reference function generation.
can be nteasured precisely by positioning the In considering the many sun trackel_, it was
sial) (see Figure 4-6). The slab is rotated until noted tlmt the command logic always refleeted
38
SLAB DIGITAL [NCODER

pally from a flmctional ra.ther than desigal
standpoint, and each major assembly will be
considered separately. For purposes of dis-
cussion, the <'ommunications and data handling
subsystem can be divided into four major
assemblies
U_ ENCODER OPTICAL SYST[M
Comm'md assembly
Wide-band telemetry ,tssembly
Narrow-band telemetry assemt)ly
Timin_Z and synchronization assembly
(%m man.Q ..t.,..,.(,mt_l.¢--The <'ommand assem-

bly of the sut)syslem is in essence lhe 1)rain and
nerve system of the (fl>serva|orv. The functions
that it 1)erfm'ms are as follows: (1) receives,
decodes, stores, and/or executes _OTOlllld conl-
mands: (:2) programs experiments and controls
ENCODER OPTICAL SYSTEM
subsystem telemeh'y ; and (3) performs valida-
I+mur_;4 7. (;od(l'_rd rotating-slab sun tracker, tion <'he('k on decoded commands. These func-
_i<ms are iml)lemenled as shown in Fi_n'e 4-,%
ihe i)arlh,ular tracker design and is s,,ongly The <tesired instruct, ions to the satellite are
del)enden! (m it. Therefore. usin_ a I)arti('ular encoded :_nd used Io modulqte a 2- to 5-kw com-
tr:,'ker infers usin_ :t i)articular conmmn(t svs-
maml tra.smilter <'<>upled to a directive high-
_enl. This is n(>! a serious I)rol)h,m as long as
g',in anten,:l array. Tile intelligence is |rans-
it is re<'.gnized. Interface i)rot)lems arise in
milled l,y I>CM,'I,'SI(/AM mo(lul:ni<)n(m lhe
sun _racker misali_mnenl (,wing to structural
('Olllllltl lid ('arrier.
clef.creations; calibration with experime.ts
most likely will he required al selected intervals. A 1,'ief d(,s<'ril)li(m of a tyl)ical <'(>mnmnd
will prmnoie n belier m_(lerstanding of the op-
Communications and Data Handling Subsystem (,ration of tlm command elements. For ex-
amlfle, tileinslru<.ti.n type of command mes-
The A()SO ('omnmnicalions and data han-
sage ('o.hl ('o.tai. two 32 bit, words 'rod their
dli._ system includes a network of tra('kin_
and (/ala acquisithm, data redu(.ti<>n, and dis- ('Omlden_enls, sent at a tale of several hm,h'ed
pl'Lv facilities as well as the observal(wy ple('- bits l)er second: the words contain lilts (hwo/e<l
tronic e(lUilmwnl. A complete evaluation of to word sym', Sl>a<.e('l'aft address, de('oder a(l-
tim fun('I i<mal, envh'onmenta], and ol)erathm:d
CLOCK INI_ STORAGE
requiremenis of this entire syslem is obviously
32 DIGITAL
beyond the SCOl)e of this i)'tper, and only lhe WORDS
,__ RECEIVERS I
observatory equil)ment portion will t)e dis N=DISCRETE
cussed. TIIp reqnil'emenis of the AOSO com-

muniraiions and ,tala handling sut)syslem are
? E NAl
VALIDATION
\// M
very sindlar h) _hose of lhe ()GO spaceerafl: _-.,,. co BINEI
AND
ROUTfNG
lifts similarity re(lm.es the <,Oml>onetli <lesiCn

efl'm't s.l)stantially.The major ln'oblem, then,
___C_
COMMAND
is to integrate satisfactorily this subsystem with DISTRIBUTION
[he slabiliz,Uion and conl rol subsystenl and the OUTPUTS TO OBSERVATORY
AND
SUBSYSTEMS IN REAL EXECUTION

exl)erimenI package system. OR DELAYED TIME TO
NARROW-
The communic'_tions and dai a handling sub- BAND
TELEMETER
system of the AOSO will be descrihed l)rim'i- l"InlI1E 4 R. ('<Hnmall(] element.
39
dress, command instruction, and tile time that

i! should I)e executed.
Followin_z the reception of tile signal by the
spacecraft antenna, two pairs of dual receivers I SELECTION
AND GATING L FORMAT
J'CONTROL ANTENNA
_ /
detect the signal. Tile structure of tlle com-
mand word then determines which of the two F-r-,s.,- I
[ i , t
1 L......
I I
/\
decoders is addressed. The _lected decoder r:-. -f'-"i IFO_VLATIOI I I F_N_E II _
II Ii I I I I I 1400Me I
synclwonously decodes the me_nage and p_ses il II I I I I l TUNS-I
I DI_ TAL I I Mn rERS
it into tile validation and routing circuitry, IEXPEI v_ENTS I SERIAL 1 J l -J MI]rERSI
il sl FT I, ' "X...,_:.,--I
where the word is ('ompared with its comple- iI REG TERS I WIDE-BAND I_ _ |
ment bit-by-bit and a verification bit is simul- 1__2

__3: I
I DATA
ASSEMBLY 1
taneously transmitted back to ground via the
I ANALOG I J / \ IRECCRDERI
narrow-b'u_d telemetry. The routing circuit
]IEXPERIMENTSI MAIN ANA_LOG F,_\I (:) I
decides whether the command is to be immedi- II _ ,,;3T,_. I-I _.L.u_..I I AND I _l_.......J
t i I _'hq;_"_ 1 t-_°L_IL%.I/,iiiih)E I TONARROW-
ately executed or is to he stored for execution I L_.LLi_.J _ L............._ SAND
I t t TELEMETER
at Solne future time. The (.ommand distribu- I
I SPACECRAFT FROM CONTROL
tion unit determines what the instruction is and I ANALOG SUBSYSTEM
I
I
dinwts il 1o the proper destination. I
lI';de-/zlm/ Telemetc!/ As._'embly--The most FIGURE 4-9. Wide-band telemetry.

iml)orta]_! assembly to the ext)erimenter is prob-
ably the wide-band telemetry assembly, shown meats that produce an analog (i.e., voltage or
in Figure 4 9. The function of this a._semhly
current, varying with time) output and that
is to elieod(', format, store, and transmit data to
must be sampled in a predetermined way to
the /.vOU!ld stalions. Data ('an t)e sent in real
provide the information in a more usal)le form
time (w from tape storage. The design require-
for telemetering.
meats used for these components were made
The various elements shown to the right of
with the assumption that tile following experi- the dashed line comprise the wide-band telem-
mellt all(l other information would have to be
etry assembly. The selection and gating matrix
])ro('essed :
is the traffic control point. Its instructions are
to a great extent pre-programmed prior to
No. of Measurements
launch. After launch (satellite in orbit),
Item modifications to these instructions---or new in-
5
Scanning experiments .... structions--arrive from the execute section of
Imaging experiments ..... 5
10-20
the command assembly in either real time for
Nonscanning experiments___
immediate execution or for execution at a later
Experiment-related space-
craft ........... (Undetermined) time. It might be mentioned that this func-
Other spacecraft status __ (Undetermined) tion, as well as all others shown, is synchronized
with the sI)acecraft master clock (timing and
synchronization assembly).
The major elements in Fignre 4-9 are shown The data assembly unit accepts all data in
m fmwti(mal notation; those to the left of the digital form; inserts the selected format identi-
dashed line represent tim output termin,ttion of fi(.ation, frame sync words required for ground
the v:trious exl)eriments. The upl)er block decomnmtation, pointing and attitude angle in-
labeled "Experiments Shift Registers" repre- formation: and forms a coded train of serial
sents the digital outl)uts of exi)eriments of the pulses cont'fining tile "bits" of information.
types a_uociated with the ot)servatorT's scan- This pulse tr.fin is then directed to one of sev-
ning mode of operation, although any data of eral destinations, depending on the record
COml)atil)le fomn may be presented in this cate- length, orbital position of the observatory with
gory. The lower block represents those experi- respect to data-acquisition stations at the time,
4O
and/or the relative loading of the two tape P ALO*TA F,OMCOM AN0
recorders. Which is to say, the data train may J VE ,F ATIONANT NyA
modulate the transmitter directly, or it. may be
channeled into one or the other of the two tape V2;'"ENT ..... I
recorders to be read out by command when the
observatory is in a more favorable position
with respect to a data-acquisition station.
To retrieve stored data (approx. 20 x 106 HIOH RATE _ _'"_'/;, .... I I
SPACECRAFT _ J/_'_D'_IN_ I F"WIDE--BAND

})its per orl)it), it is obvious that the tape re-
corder must be played back at considerably
greater speed than used for recording. A nomi-
nal st)eedu p ratio of 28 to 32 times appears
feasible. This is an extreme simplification of
the data retrieval problem, since several orbits ON-OFF _ SHIFT _J[ F:ONVERTER I ONLY _l/
EVENTS _ _ /
may be nmde before interrogation is possible.
It does, howerer, suffice to show the "appetite" FI(;URE 4-10. Narrow-band telemetry.
of the observatory in information gathering and

to show that the "digestion" of information is The narrow-band data handling unit, which
q much more complicated problem. has its eonnteri)art ill the wide-band element,
Narrow-band Telemetry As,_embly--The nar- formats all digital data, inserts frame sync code
row-band telemetry flmctions are more con- words, subframe identification, etc., and gen-
ventional in that they are similar to those per- erates the serial PCM pulse train that t)hase -
modulates one or the other of the two 136-Me
formed on any large satellite in a near-polar
transn]itters.
orbit. These functions include commutation,
I'_:.m_ng and _gy/nahronizatlon A._,_embly--The
encoding, and the format of experiment and
timing and synchronization of operations
spacecraft data whose rate varies from a frac-
aboard the spacecraft are of utmost importance.
tion to several times the frame rate. The types
The timing as_mbly is conventional in design
of information include righ-rate, high resoln-
except for accuracy and reliability considera-
tion spacecraft data; intermediate-rate experi- tions. Two highly stabilized crystal oscillators
ment and control information; low-rate moni- drive a long 1)inatT divider chain. Outlmt
tor; and on-off events. It also accepts I)ul_s are available at several 1,'ares, down to 1
command verification, monitors state-of-com- pulse/see and slower, lTnder control of the
mand storage, and transmits data in real time. program matrices, the various pul_ trains are
Figure 4-10 shows the arrangements of the gated to the other sul)systems and subassemblie._
functional units. The main narrow-1)and mul- to assure synchronous operation and proper
tiplexer commutates the "high-rate" spacecraft sequencing.
data. Experiment status and other medium- At least two oscillatol_, are u_ to increa_
rate data are comnmtated at, intermediate rate the reliability factor. For the same reason, a
by a suhcommntator. The slow-speed commu- high order of redundancy is employed in the
tator, operating at a still lower synchronous binary divider chain. Spacecraft time is also
speed, comnmtates such dat_t points as tempera- derived from the master clock.
tures, supply voltages, and other information of
Power Supply
the so-called housekeeping variety. A fourth
type of data, which is char,wterized by only two The power supl)ly subsystem provides the
states, such as ON-OFF (switches, l_lays, electric power requil_ments of the spacecraft
gates, etc.), may be sent most efficiently by as- and the solar experiments. Basically, it con-
signing a particular single bit to each of the sists of silicon solar cell arrays, nickel-cadre}ran
points to be monitored. batteries, and charge control devices. During
41
the sunlight portion of tile orbit, tile solar ar- TAm_ 4-3
rays must have the ('apacity to supply all of the
Spaceca-aft Power Requiremextts
power requil_ements of tile sl)acecraft plus an
additional capacity for re_'harge of battery Requirement Sunlight Eclipse
drain dm'ing eclipm, launch, and acquisition

phases. Communication and data
A block diagram of the power snbsystem is handling .............. 51. 6 51.6
Stabilization and control___ 96. 8 58. 4
shown in Fi_nlre 4-11. The estimated power re-
Power control ......... 12.0 7.0
quirements for the st)ace('raft are given in Table
Solar physics experiments_. 75. 0 ....
4-3. This power is supplied at a nominal volt- 14. 3 12. 9
Experiments programmer___
age of 28 volts with _t range of 23.5 to 33.5 volts. Battery recharge ......... 152. 0 .....
Diode losses ........... 10. 0 10. 0
I POWER BUS ! ]
Cable losses ............ 5.0 5.0
Total ............ 416. 7 144. 9
GE- for this reason, a total contingency of 45 pounds

was added. These estimates, the payload, and
L_] other weight factors are shown in Table 44.
The total weight estimate is seen to exceed the
Thor Agena limit by some 70 pounds. Since
this includes a known contingency of 45 pounds,
the goal appears to be in sight.
T_T._. 4-4
Fmtrm_ 4-11. Power subsystem.
Payload Weight Estimate
Design of n-on-p silicon solar cells must in- Weight 0b)

clude consideration of cell degradation with I
time, as well as the effects of operating tem- Stabilization and control subsystem__l 140
perature on efficiency. Taking these various Communications and data handling !

subsystem ...................... 154
effects into account increases the equivalent
Power supply subsystem ............ 224
initial design load (sunlight) to 550 watts. 250
Experiments .....................
This would require an assembly of approxi- Structure subsystem ............... 125
mately 20,000 cells. Instrumentation .................. 15
The cal)acity of the nickel-('adlniUnl batteries Observatory total (orbit) ..... 908
is determined by the power required during Retrograde penalty ..... 64
Adapter, separation gear ...... 45
the ;15-minule eclipse time. Assuming a 25-
percent depth of discharge limit for cyclic op- Observatory total (launch) .... 1017
enltion, a 12 amp-hr battery capacity is

required.
Other mass properties of the observatory, such
The power controller acts as a voltage, cur-
as inertia about tile control axis, are as follows,
rent, and battery temperature sensor and con-
in slug-ft 2 :
trols these elelnents by limiting the charging
rate and voltage within the prescribed limits. I_,,,L-- 74.5
Ipttch--137.5
Weight Estimate Iy_w--142
Weights of the various subsystems described The l)roducts of inertia were found to be
were estinlated in a preliminal 3, maturer; and, negligible.
42
CONCLUSIONS The design and development of the space-

craft sut)systems (to not appear to require tech-
The spacecraft, design study conducted by the
nology beyond lhe state-of-the-art. Tile use of
God<lard Space Flight Center has proved 1o be
redundant I)arts to achieve the reliability goals
very helpful in pointing out, prol)lem areas that will require further evaluation, since the cur-
will require special attention during the de-
rent spa('e<'raft weight (,slim'lies exceed the
velopment phase of ttle program. The sun
Thor Agena limit.
tracker had been pi,.viously recognized as a key
problem, but the study has shown that, the in- ACKNOWLEDGMENT
tegration of this component, with the rest, of the
control subsystem, the struetawe, experiments, The author wishes to acknowledge and ex-
and the communications system is q problem of l>re_s his al>I)reciation for the :lssistance re-
equal magnitude. On the other hand, progress ceived in the prepar:ttion of this paper from
on the sun tracker development has been very vnrious AOSO l)roject and function'fl support,
members of the GSFC staff.
encouraging.
43
THE MISSION OF THE
ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
by
ROBERT R. ZX_MER* ASD JAM_S E. Kurvrl_IaN, Jr. t
Goddard Space Flight Center
The basic objectives and the reasons for the develop- The advent of artificial earth satellites makes
ment of the OAO project are discussed. The observ- quite real the possibility of extending man's
ing equipment now under development by the scientific
knowledge of the universe by observing above
community for the first three observatories is de-
the earth's atmosphere and, for long periods of
scribed, as well as a brief resumt_ of the specific scien-
tific aims of each experimenter. time, the energy from celestial matter in the
ultraviolet and infrared regions of the elec-
INTRODUCTION
tromagnetic spectrum. Additionally, the
The t)asic mi_ion of the Orbiting Astronom- twinkling due to the earth's atmosphere would
ical Observatory (OAO) is to extend man's be eliminated; and the light of the night sky
knowledge of 'the origin and development of the would no longer interfere with the detection
univeme. Beginning in the early seventeenth of very faint objects.
century, when the first practical optical instru- These, then, are the basic reasons for the
ments were used by Galileo, man has pursued development of an orbiting observatou¢ for
the investigation of the universe by a constant astronomical purposes.
study of the stars and planets. This early ob-
REQUIREMENTS AND PHILOSOPHY OF AN
servational astronomy was essentially a study
ASTRONOMICAL SATELLITE
of the position and movement of celestial bodies.
The work of Einstein revived the interest in, The early efforts to place telescopes above the
and study of, cosmology and gave to it an im- earth's atmosphere have utilized balloons (Ref-
petus that regained its prominent position in erence 1 ) and, more recently, the Aerobee sound-
the physical sciences. ing rockets. The Aerobee, with its latest modi-
A further advance in astronomy resulted-- fications, provides a tool for pointing observing
during the early and middle 1800's--from the equipment to five predetermined regions of the
introduction of the spectroscope, which per- sky to an accuracy of 11/_ degrees of arc.
mitted the study of the visible energy of the Greater accuracies are possible with error sen-
sun. Not, however, until the application of sors in the experiment packages. Some of the
photography to the study of celestial spectra, results of these experimental efforts are dis-
did the really rapid developments in astronom- cussed by Dr. Kupperian (Reference 2) and
ical spectroscopy occur. Messrs. Stecker and Milligan (Reference 3).
For centuries, then, scientists have been seek- These e'trly and limited observations have pro-
ing an understanding of the origin of the uni- duced unexpected results in that the fluxes below
verse, handicapped by the obscuring and dis- 2400A of early-type stars are substantially less
torting curtain of the earth's atmosphere.
*Proje('t Manager, Orbiting Astronomi('al Observa-
Their ohservations were restricted to the small
tory, Goddard Sl)a('e l:li_ld Centcr.
visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum ?Project Scientist, Orbiting Astronomi('al Observa-
and, more recently, to the radio regions. tory, Goddard Slmce Flight Center.
45
than theoretical predictions. The sounding could t)e ext)eete(l to yield dividends from the
rocket, although a valuable asset, still leaves use of identical sI)acecrafts for a variety of ntis-
much to be desired in the way of a remote- sions. This idea, after many consultations
controlled observatory because of its limited with potential experimenters, tinally cuhninated
payload capability and its short lifetime. The in a contract for a 3600-pound general purpose
need of a long-life satellite capable of being astronomical si)acecraft with the Grumman
pointed to any point in the celestial sphere is Aircraft Engineering Corporation of Bethpage-
apparent. Long Island, New York. The sa|elli|e was
In late 1958 and early 1959 several astrono- l)lamled for an orbit thai would be below the
mers, Dr. Fred Whipple of the Smithsonian Van Allen radialion belts an<t yet high en<mgh
Astrophysical Observatory, Dr. Lyman Spitzer to minimize the exiermtl disturl)ance t,)r(lues on
of Princeton U'niversity, Dr. Arthur Code of the spacecraft so that l)recise stat)ilization and
the University of Wisconsin, and Dr. Leo con(tel couht t)e achieved--an orbit of al)proxi-
Goldberg of Harvard, proposed astronomical mately 500-statute-mile alti(u(le, inclined to the
experiments for satellite application (Refer- equator at 31 degrees.
ences 4, 5, 6, and 7). As is the case with all
OBSERVATORY SYSTEM
space science efforts that are being supported by
NASA, the astronomy program must be built
An artist's conception of the OAO is shown
on the participation of the scientific community.
in Figure 5-1. A ('omplete engineering sum-
The success of a program such as the OAO
mary of the design and ttevelopment of the
hinges directly on the ingenuity and effort, of
the individual working scientists associated
with the program.
About the same time, Dr. Kupperian pre-
sented the basic idea of a universal spacecraft
or observatory to accommodate a variety of
astronomical observing equipment. This con-
cept was developed after examining the space-
craft requirements for a number of different
experiment systems. The requirements for a
stable [)]atfornl, precise pointing capability,
stable thermal enviromnent, data storage, data
transmission and command systems_ and ground
operation complex were comnlon to all en-
visioned observing equipments. Thus tim de-
velopment of a spacecraft for one experiment
system shouht in general satisfy the require- I_SIGURE 5--1. Artist's concept of the Orbiting Astro-
nomical Observatory.
ments for .i large nmnl)er of different syslems.
Also, in the large engineering effort required
space(waft will be presented I)y Mr. Walter
to produce a space vehicle, a major portion of Scott in the next pal)er of this se._ion. In
the expended work is in the initial design, de- planning a standard sl)acecraft io be used with
velopment, and testing of the l,rototype OF first minimal chanties for various observing equil)-
mo(lel of tim spacecraft, llere again an ob- lnen(s, a]l()),vallce was Itlade tO at,COllln|od_t|e
servatory that couht be adapted, with only min- optics u l) lo 40 inches in diameter in a system
imal changes, to a wide variety of observing up to li_ feet long. This capability is l)rovided
equipment with many types of al)plications in the ceulra) cavity of the sl)acet'vaft. Small
would amortize lhese high initial development secondary exl)erintents weighing 1() to 2i) pound._
costs. Increased reliability, maximum use of can also b(* a('('onmt,xhtted in the top 1)or! ion of
groun(t facilities, and operating experience the sl)avecraft. The sl)ace('raft anti aslronom-
46
MISSfON OF ORBITING A STRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
t)ack t<) GSF(L The hulk of the scientific data

teal equipments are being designed with 'l goal
of a. 70-percent probability of a 1-ye,/r lifetime. will lie sent to GSF(_, t)y air mail, for reduction.
Electronic components and data handling
EXPERIMENT SYSTEMS
packages for the experiments are housed in the
shelves surrounding the central iul)e (see The prinulry exI>erimonts for the first three
Figure 5 2). Ilere also are all the sysienis ra- ol>serval<iries have been selected and will be
qnired for the operation of the sp,mecr'lft. direcled toward the study of the ultraviolet
B'lsically ihe sp'teecraft is designed to sense and 1)orii(in of the spe('truni. The fiI'sl flight will
point the optical axis of the telescope to any ('arrv the sky slirvey experiment of the Smiih-
point in the celestial sphere, with the except ion soni'lll Astrol)hysi(!al ()t)seI'vafory (SAO) and
of a 90-<legree cone about the sun line, to 'in (he 1)r()ad-t)an(1 l)hoionieiry exl)erinlent of the
accuracy of 1 mimlte of arc. Using the exl)eri- I'niversily of Vt'ls<'onsin. The second observa-
menter's prime optics and a suital)]e error i<)rv will conlain a sysleni for tile siudy of ali-
sensor, the sl>acecraft control system is designed solui e sl)eci rol)holoniat ry being prel)ared by the
to achieve a fine t)ointing accuracy of ().1() sac- (lo_l(lal'd SI)ll('e Flight ('enter. The third unit
and of arc. will CalTy ilia l)rincelon University equipment
illiended for the siudy of inierslellar lnatter.
Since the th'st observatory will carry equip-
nient intended priniarily f<)r survey studies, it
is inien(led ihai tha (liil a <lbi ained provide diree-
lion and interestin K focal l>oints for the experi-
ments that follow. Since there is always an
elenlent of uncertainly in ilia flight of a new
iigltr system, ihe requirements of ihe sial>ilizal ion and
(tontrol sysieni are less siringenl for tliese first
experiments than for those f<>llowing.
A brief glimpse of the objectives and basic
elements of the at)serving systems now being
i)repared nlight t)e of interest. All the experi-
menters are intpleiileliiillg the development of
their systems by means of <.ontracts with vari-
ous industrial organizalions. The first space-
FIC.UIiE .)--_. ('(,mpartment for housing exix_riment and
spacecraft equipment. craft, liecause of lhe physic'd size and multi-
plicily of telescopes, is altered fronl the basic
The gronnd ot)eration <'onil)lex for the ()At) ('onllgllral ion to allow exl)erinlants io view from
will be centered at, and operated liy. lhe G<_<l- both ends (_'e Figure 5 3). The SAO experi-
dard Sl)ace Flight Cenler (GSF('). All <'om- llienl, ('onsisl ing of four instruinents, views from
niands anti all reduction of scientific alid space- tile lower end of ihe sl)a<'e,'rafl ; and the Wis-
craft (lala will be aeconipii:iie(1 at lhe (!enter. consin experinwnt, consisling of ,seven el)ileal
There will tie renlofe receiving and lT'ansnliitin g systems, is pointed forward. These two expel'i-
stations al llosnlal/, Norlh ('at'cling: Qliil(), lilelilS ware chosen for the tirsl flight primarily
Eellallor; ilnlt Sanliago, Chile. With ibis nel for lhe following l'easolis: (l) They "u'e of a
or tent% one (_<)ntllct per <)l'l)it of at ]allsl 5 survey and exl>lorai<) _" nature; (2) the Wis-
nlinilleS dllralion is l)ossible at a]lilndes as low (.(>nsin equipnient llas the eal>ability for obiain-
as 351) statule miles. ('oinlnands Keneraled in_r more detailed infornliiiion on "finds" re-
prior fro a contact will tie lranslnilled frolll sulliilg froni tile SAt) sky survey: (3) they
GSFC by teletyl)e to the al)l)rol)riaie remole nl:ike c(mlplemeniary denlands on the space-
station, an<l rel:iled data received at ihe relliOle craft <.apabilities with regard io ielenietry, and
stations will lie ir,uisniiile<l 1)y the Siiliie nialhod l'eal-I illle till(1 relnole operation; and, finally,
47
FmuRz 5-3. OAO spacecraft no. 1. Fmu_ 5-4. Schwarzchild camera as used in
Celescope.
(4) tile systems are compatible with the phys-

ical space available for the experimental 1 inch in diameter. The effective focal or trans-
equipment. mission ratio is 3.7 assuming 75-percent reflec-
tivity of the mirrors. The detector for this
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory system, called a Uvicon, is shown in Figure
Experiment
5-5. These are basically television tubes that
The primary objective of the Smithsonian are sensitive to various ultraviolet bandwidths.
experiment, c'tlled Project (Jelescope, is to make The photocathode material is cesium iodide or
a new map of the sky similar in coverage to cesium telluride, and the target operates by
sky surveys such as the Draper Catalog and secondary emission with a gain of about. 250.
the Palomar Sky Atlas. This new map will The integrating structure for the four tele-
differ from its predecessors, since it, will be scope modules is shown in Figure 5-6. The
made entirely in the ultraviolet portion of the experiment container houses the main support
spectrum. This map will include stars to the structure. The "X" frame member is attached
7th or 8th magnitude and large nebulae to the to the spacecraft structure through four mount-
8th magnitude per minute of arc. It is planned ing lug,-s; it is also the member to which the
to measure up to 50,000 main-sequence stars in
Wisconsin observing equipment is mounted.
four ultraviolet spectral bands: 1200 to 1600A,
1300 to 1600A, 1600 to 2900A, and 2300 to
2900A. These four ultraviolet readings for
each star will be used to determine the shape of
the spectral energy distribution curves.
The experiment consists of four electroni-
cally recording telescope cameras serving as
broad-band photometel_. As shown in Figure
5-4, each telescope uses the Schwarzchild optics
with the ultraviolet detector at the focal plane.
The mirrors are made of fuzed quartz. The
primary ring-shaped mirror has a clear aper-
ture of 12 inches, with the central perforation
being 5 inches in diameter. The secondary
mirror has a clear aperture of about 6 inches,
with a central hole for the calibration system FIGURE 5-5. Uvicon television camera tube.
48
MISSION OF ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
of each photometer is determined by a selectable

diaphragm stop located in the focal plane.
The nebular photometer system consists of a
single 16-inch f/2 parabola. The optical axis
coincides with the axis of the experiment cylin-
der, and the photometer is located at the prime
focus. As in the stellar systems, the field of
view will be determined 1)y a selectable dia-
phragm.
The scanning spectrometer system consists of
an objective grating of approximately 6 x 8-inch
aperture and a 7 x ]0-inch parabolic objective
that images a monochronmtic image of the star
on the photometer slit located behind the grat-
FIGVRE 5_6. Integrating structure for Celescope. ing. The spectrometer employs a 300 line/m
grating in the first order, bl'lzed for 20()0A ; and
University of Wisconsin Experiment a resolution of 10A is achievable.
The experiment under development, by the

Gocldard Space Flight Center Experiment
University of Wisconsin is directed toward the
determination of the stellar energy distribution The equil)ment to be orbited in the second
in the spectral region from 3000 to 800A and spacecraft is being develoI)ed 1)y the Astrophy-
toward measurement of the emission line inten- sics Bran('h of GSFC and is designed to make
sities of diffuse nebulae in the same spectral al_soIute spectrophotometric measurements of
region. In addition to the above objectives, stars and nel)ulae in the ultraviolet. The ex-
it is thought that the equipment will provide l)eriment will h'tve the capability of operating
the capability to follow up discoveries resulting in a numl)er of different modes. For example,
from the Smithsonian mapping or early obser- it. cal_ l)e used to obtain I)oth steady-state and
vation obtained with the Wisconsin equipment time-deI)endent photometric data on stars or,
on rocket flights. for that matter, any celestial object except the
The equipment being developed by the Uni- Sin1, Venus, Mercury, and objects fainter than
versity of Wisconsin consists of three basic
llth magnitude. Because of this flexibility, it
photometric systems: (1) a multicolor filter
will t)e capal)le of ol)tailling information of use
photometer system intended primarily for the
in numerous astronomical l)rol)lems.
measurement of stars and consisting of four
8-inch telescopes, each telescope feeding a sepa-
rate three-color filter photometer; (2) a multi-
color filter photometer system intended pri-
marily for nebulae and other extended-surface
objects and consisting of one 16-inch telescope;
and (3) a scanning spectrometer system em-
ploying two objective grating spectromete_,_
of approximately 6×8-inch aperture. Sche-
matics of this equipment are shown in Figure
5-7.
The stellar photometer system consists of
four 8-inch, f/4 off-axis parabolas located in
pairs on diametrically opposite sides of the ex-
periment cylinder. Each telescope feeds 't
separate filter photometer. The field of view Fmt:aE 5-7. Wisconsin experiment optical systems.
49
THE OBSERVATORY GENERA TION OF SATELLITES
A sehenlatie of this eqnilmlent is shown ill According to present cosmogonical theories,

the stars are {.onden_d ()tit of clouds of inter-
Figul'e 5-_. The .'+6-inch primary mirror of
the t'asse_rttinian telescope, which collects the stellar gas and dust. Therefore, it is of primary
interest to understand the composition and
light frolu tile stars, is made of b,.+ryllinm be-
{'ause of its ihernial stability. This light is physical conditions of lhis interstelhu' matter.
foeuse(t (ni the entrance slit of a spectrograph Sill<'(' (if tile interslelhu"
lnost ale(its absorb only
in the fill" uhravitilet, with virtually no absorp-
thal enlt)loys ini _ x _-inch diffrilction _raihiK
lion lilies in the visible speclrunl, tile study of
ruled 12iiti lines/ni llll all asl)herie stlrfaee. The
exit slits for o _, llllll {14-_I.speclra] resolution tills interstellar gas will be nleasurabIy ad-
vancell l)y observations in the ultraviolet with
will be l}rovided. The i'esullilig speelruni
covers the l'all_e fi'Olll 11)t)11Io 451)0A. _ix de- hig}l dispersion. Tile prinlary objective, then,
lectors, sensilive io diit'erenl bands of ultra- is to IJrovide qnanlitalive oliservlit ions of these
violet i'atliation, are IOeilted ,_o as lcI be sinnll- ull ra violet lines.
taneouslv ilhuuiluiled t))" dilt'ereni portions of Tltis sysieni consists t)asicll]lv of three sub-
lhe siJeet rnni. s3"stenls : tile telescope for collecting the radian
energy, tile spectrometer for the measurements,
•lnd the error sensor for precise orientation and
guidance of the observalors. A schematic of
this instrunlent is shown in Figure 5-9.
FI(alRF 5--8. Goddard experiment optical syst_Ill.
Tlle_ detectors generate pulse at a rate pro-

portioned to tile intensity of lhe ineident radia-
lion. Tile sl}ectl'onieler gl'atiiig niay tie inoved FIGIrRE 71 ,9. I'rinceban t'Xlt('rilnelll optical system.
in disci'ele increnients so thai the deteelors are

ilhuiiinaied by oilier l)Ol'lions of the speelruni. Tim opt ieal system ('t)llsists of It (]assegrainian
Tlw svslelll is desiglietl Silt'it lhat there is 100- rellectin K telescope fee(ling the entrance slit of
pereenl redundancy ill lhe dalli collections un- II concave gl'ilthlg sl)eetronleter. The fuzed
less two l)hysieally adjacent dete('iors are lost. quartz prinuu'y of the f/3 telescope will be 32
Tile line _Z/liilanl'e systeni will provide the in('hes in dianwter. The secondary mirror,
sign'ds io the sl)aeecraft ('Oiltro] systelll when- which has provisions for adjusting the focus,
ever accuracies I)elween 1 niinule of arc lind 1 will l)rovide an fli20 inuige for the spe!¢tro-
seeon(] Of are are required. IZi'aph.

The elltrance slit and the concave grating of
Princeton University Experiment Ihe sl)eeirograph are fixed, and the photocells
behind the exit slit will scan ihe spectrum along
The third spacecraft will carry tlw equip-
nient ]leilig developed t)v l}rinceton l'niversity. tile lhiwland circle, which has a radius of
50
MISSION OF ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
50 centimelel_. This will provide a dispersion sensor will provide _he ultimate accuracy of 0.1
of 8A/ram ill lilt, tirst order. A fuu<l:uuental se<'(m(1 of 'it'('.
spectral resolving power ¢>f 0.1 :_l,d 0.4A is

CONCLUDING REMARKS
planned.
Tile sensors will consist of three sets of photo- As is apparenl from this discu._sion of the
multipliers. Each sel will consist of one photo- re:ts()ns for developing a system such as the
multii)lier for the S()O 1o 15t)OA band and a ()At) and the specitie objectives of the partici-
second for the 1600/o 3()0t)A band. ()he set of pat ink members _f the scient ific community, the
('.ells will t)e mounted at the zero-or(ler image to result ink effort represents a bold advance both
monitor the amount of light l)assing the en- iTl the t)ossil)ilities of rewarding scientific in-
tran('e slit; the se<'ond set will he re(ranted 1)e- formal ion and in _he engineering breakthroughs
hind the 0.1A wide slit: and the third set be- /hat must t)e acCOml)lished I)efore such a system
hind the tl.4A slit. is a reality. The deveh)lmWnt of the spacecraft
A fine-error sensor is l)roposed that will center aml tirst three experiments is well along toward
the select e(1 star image on (he elll rance slit of the the tirst m:tj<)r goal ()f l)r()ducing a prototype
spectroscope to an accuracy of 0.1 second of arc. system. Alth()ugh m'u_y technical l)roblems
This will he accomplished t)y having a tw<)- have t)eel, solved--or s()luti<)ns qppear to be
stage sensor, the output of which will control forthcoming, the difficulties (>f integration of
the fine stabilization wheels of the spacecraft. the systems, and pro<)f t}mt it will operate in
The first stage of this sensor, utilizing the lighl the required enviromnents, is still to I>e accom-
reflected from the jaws of the entrance slit when l)lished, lTowever, it al)l)ears at this time that
the slar image falls outsi(le the slit, should re- within the next o to 3 years an astronomy ob-
duce a l)ointing error of up to 120 seconds <)f arc servatory will 1)e sending startling and new
to 0.6 second of arc. The second stage of the revel:t[ ions I)ack to the earthbound ,istronomers.
REFERENCES
1. SCUWARZCrIILD, M., and SOHWARZCItILD, B., "Balloon Astronomy," Sci. Amer. 200 (5) :
52-59, May 1959.
2. KUPPERIAN, Z. E., JR., "Astronomical Research in Space," in: Proc. NASA-Univ. Conf.
on Sci. and Tech. of Space Exploration, Cl_icago, November 1962, NASA SP-11,
December 1962, Vol. 1, pp. 139-145.
3. STEeliER, T. P., and MILLIGAN, J'. E., "Stellar Spectrophotomeiry from Above the Atmos-
phere," Astrophys. J. 136 (1) : 1-13, July 1962.
4. _,VHIPPI.E. 1:. L., an(l I)AVIS. R..l., "l'rol)osed Stellar _llHl Interstellar Slll'V('y." A,_ctFOH()ttt.
J. 65 (5) : 285-290, June 1960.
5. SPIT'ZER, L., Jl_., "Space Telescopes and Components," Astronom. J. 65 (5): 242-263,
June 1960.
6. CODP., A. D., "Stellar Astronomy from a Space Vehicle," Astronom. J. 65 (5) : 278-284,
June 1960.
7. GOLD_ERG, L., "Solar Experiments," Astronom. J. 65 (5) : ,'274-,'277, June 1!)60.
51
THE ENGINEERING DESIGN OF THE
ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
by
WALTER H. SCOTT, JR.*

+
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
The Orbiting Astr_momieal Observatory (OAO) is orbital altitude of 50(1 miles was selected to be
designed to provide an accurately stabilized, unmanned
under the heavy Van Allen radiation belt, but
I)latform for astronomical obserwitions from well
high enough to avoid an excessive number of
above the earth's atmosphere. ()f primary immediate
interest is tile observation of stellar radiation in the ground installations. The .d>ove requirements
ultraviolet range, which is severely limite_l even in bal- result in an expensive coml)ination of launch
loon experiments bee'mse of absorption in the ozone vehicle, spacecraft, and exl)eriment. Therefore
layers. The OAO is a 3600-pound spacecraft that will
eml)hasis has been placed on (tesignin_ the
be placed in orbit by an Atlas Agena D. It can handle
()A() for a long life and in maintaining a gen-
optical systems up to 4S inches in diameter, 10 feet in
length, weighing 1(100 pmmds. The key design require- era] purpose type of spa<'ecraft that <'ould 1)e
ments of the sI)aeeeraft are discussed. The reasons used for a variety of exl)erimenls with mini-
behind the configuration are then exlflained, followed n,unl redesit_n aim relesl in/.
by a disenssioll of the maim" sill)systems showing how
they have been designed to meet the exacting require-
CONFIGURATION
ments of astronomical observ,ltion.
The external design of the OAO, shown in

INTRODUCTION
Figures 6-1 an{1 (;-2, consists of an octagonal
The basic requirements of the OAO were t)ody 8t) inches across the flats and 120 inches
estatflished by the God(Hrd Space Flight Center high. The exl)eriment is ]mused in a central
(GSFC) with the assistance of some leading tube 4S inches in diameter extending the full
astronomers.f The dimensions and weight are height of the Ix)d)-. Figure (;-1 shows the
basically a function of the size of optics re- spacecraft 'is designed for ! we exl)erimenl s, one
quired for useful experimentation, as limited by viewing from each end. The standard con-
available launch vehicle capabilities. Prelim- figuration w<>uld be a single experiment view-
inary stu<ties by GSFC established that a 36- in K from the forward end only. The sun sha<le
inch-diameter optical system fell within the is closed <)ver the experiment I)efore and during
capal}ilities of the Atlas Agemt D and wouht launch for i)rote(.tion. After orientation in
provide a useful obserwltory for many years to ort)it, it is opened and pi'oleets the optical tube
come. Iligh poin|ing accuracy along with an from sunlight. It normally wouht never <'lose
ability 1o hold on a dim star for long periods of again mdess a malfunction or a faulty program
time are important requiremems of stellar ob- shouhl result in the optical axis approaching
servalion. In a(hlition, a high-accuracy data the sun line, in which case the sun shade wouhl
automatically close when an angle of less than
system is required for precise spectral measure-
45 degrees to the sun line is reached. An ex-
ments. A carefully controlled temperature in
the optical system is required to minimize dis- *I)A() I'rogr'un Manager, Grmmnan A irvi'aft Engi-
tortion, and a h)w temperature level is dictated neering ('orp.
tSee previ(ms paper by Messrs. Ziemer and Kul)-
t)y rues! types of experiment sensors. An perian.
53
GENERAL INFORMATION
GROSS WEIGHT - 3600 Ib
EMPTY WEIGHT - 2600 Ib
PAYLOAD - 1000 Ib
TOTAL SOLAR PADDLE AREA, I 11 .S0 sq ft

VIEWING FIELD:
FWD, EXPERIMENT - 270 ° (EXCLUDING 90 ° CONE

TOWARD SUN)
AFT EXPERIMENT - 280 ° (EXCLUDING 90 ° CONE

TOWARD & AWAY FROM SUN)
SEPARATION FEET_--.-_"_ SECONDARY SUN SHADE
51 S_' O --_PLANE
So,,_///
88 1/2"
SOLAR CELL J
ARRAYS-FOLDED j
----254 3/16" _
WIDE - BAND ANTENNA
---195 ILLE" I
__1168 5/8"
DIAMI 1 STAR
80 3_16" _I
2
_" _ TRACKER (6)_
18 1/15"_'__] ]5/16" M D LES
CELL O U
35 7/8"
f
ENVELOPE Z
_ EXPERIMENT
114" DIAM.
PADDLES FOLDED DOWN RANGE PACKAGE --SO ,4 ';L'A,RAYS-FOLDE
x
FIGURE ('r-1. OAO general arrangement (double-ended experiment, spacecraft no. 1).
plosive jettison system is provided should the problems of operation of bearings in a wtcuum
acl uator tool(iv f'lil to C)l)en t he sun shade after and mass shift effects on stabilization.
l'um('h. The internal structure arrangement, of the
The solar cell arrays at'e folded against the OA() consists of a central tube surrounded by
ho(ly during launch, the entire assembly being vert i('al tl'usses and horizontal shelves. All pri-
protected bv a tiber glass fairing. Following mary s! ru(qure is !.)uilt of riveted or spot-welded
fairing ejection, the solar arrays are unfolded alunfinum alloy. Many of the sheet-metal mem-
to a tixe(1 I)osition by sI)riugs. The angle of the bel'S are chemically milled to save weight..
paddles and the saw-tooth augle of tllc solar l_;on(le(I aluminum honeycomb is used in many
cell modules were sele('ted to l)rovide the maxi- :tl'eas, Sll(']l as the solar paddles, Sill] shades,
mum area and the minimum angle from lhe Ilov- aud equipment shelves, where high rigidity is
real to the sun line. Solar (.ells are mounle(I (m required. The structural arrangement, of the
l_oth sides of the l)a(tdles: and, whell the sun ()A() is shown in Figure (;-3. The 1)ays formed
angle l)e('_)mes excessive ou oHe shle, i he observa- by the trusses and shelves l)rovide the volume
tory is rolled 180 degrees to expose the other for the sl)acecraft e(tuipnmnt. The stM_iliza-
side. The small penalty resulting from oblique t ion retluivements for the OAO have dictated
exposure to the sm_ was accepted to avoid me- :in extremely vonserwttive design and manu-
('hani<'al rotation of the paddles with atteudant fa(quring al)l)roach that. avoids l)ermanent set
54
DESIGN OF ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
periment is achieved when the experiment is

c_upled conductively tx)the spacecraft strncture.
The primary temperature variations in the ex-
periment lhen result from radiation in and out
of the open end of the experimental tube, and
can be reduced to not over ±15 ° C by shielding
the experiment structure. Further reductions in
temperature variations can be obtained by care-
ful programming of the observatory viewing
anffles with respect to the sun and earth.
In addition to providing the proper environ-
merit for the exl)eriment and minimum distof
tion of the structure, it is iml)ortant that the
electronic equipment be maintained within
temperature limits for most reliable operation
(0 ° to 160 ° F). The structure cannot be used as
2 a heat sink for electronic equipment ; therefore
_ all electronic packages are designed so that heat
is conducted to the outer surface of each box,
which serves as a heat sink and a radiator to the
outer skin. IIeat flow is adjusted by means of
paint patterns on the heat-sink surface. The
outer skin of the OAO is a radiation shield for
FIGURE _-2. OAO suspended for moment of intertia

measurements.
or joint slippage under launch loads. Rigid

qssemlfly fixtures are required, along with the
most advanced techniques _)f opli[_al tooling
and a li/_qmmnt.
THERMAL DESIGN
The t]mrmal desi_'n of tim OAO is It passive

one in that a minimmn of elcciric heaters are
used :_ll(1 n_>_,_ltomatic ,tdjustments such as vavi-
M)le brayers are nmde in the r:Miation surfaces
of the sp,wecraft. The bast(, scheme is to isolate
the space('r',ft structure from external thermal
effects of the ram, earth, and space and from in-
ternal heat-generatil/ff electronic equipment bv
means of radialion shields. The internal insula-
lion consists of multiple layers of aluminized
Mylar. l,_xlerlm] insulation is provided ])y the
thernmlly isolated osier skins and by insulated
or shielded exposed fittings and equipment.
This approach has proved 1o be so successful
that the best thermal ('onfigm'ation for the ex- F][;IrRE F)--,'_. OAO slrn(qural arrangement.
55
the entire spacecraft : it is a thin aluminum sur-

face with a finished desigq_ to both reflect solar
radi:ttion and provide a radiating surface for
internal equipment.
The above system of thermal eomrol can be
maintained only through careful design of stray
eondm'tion and ra(tiation paths. Protruding
fittings such as solar paddle latches and hinges
are built of fiber glass and titanium for low con-
ductivity. All outer skins fire attached to the
structure by Teflon fittings. Equipment.
mounts are fiber glass, and internal wiring and
tubing are clamped to fiber glass supports that
are gold plated to avoid external radiation
bounce paths.
A 5-week thermal vacuum test of a full-scale
()AO with sinmlated equipment has proved
that an experiment temperature of -30 ° C
with a tolerance of ±15 ° C can be attained, that
electronic equipment temperatures will not ex-
ceed a 0 ° to 160 ° F range, and that the struc-
tural distortions are within tolerances for the
Fmu_ 6--t. Lowering the OAO into the thermal
I)ointint_ requirenlents of the ().'tO. A i)hoto- vacuum chamber as viewed from inside chamber
gral)h of the ()A() being lowered inlo the cham- (waffle-surfaced wails are liquid nitrogen cold
ber is shown in Figure 6-4. walls).
STABILIZATION AND CONTROL opti('s of tile experiment may be used to pro-

vide fine-error signals to the control system.
Following booster separation, the OAO
As a t)aekup to the above sensors, a wide-anKle
stabilization system must first reduce the sep-
TV eanlera with a reti('le for angle measure-
aration ,umbling rates and stal)ilize on the sun.
ment and a rigid star tracker, bore-sighted to
Following sun stabilization, a stellar reference
lhe opt ieal axis of the experiment, are provided.
is established. The OAO is then rotated or
The t orquers consist of a high-thrust nitrogen
slewed to the desired pointing direction for the
gas jet system for initial stabilization on the
experiment. This pointing direction must then
smb a coarse momentmn wheel system for slew-
be maintained with great precision for long
ing and ('oarse pointing using the star trackers
periods of time. Following each observation,
as sensors, and a fine nmmentum wheel system
the ()A() ix slewed to a new l)ointing direction
use(1 primarily for fine pointing using error
in accordance with real-time or stored corn-
signals from the experiment.
illan(ls.
The OAO will encounter small external dis-
The equit)ment used to perform these func-
lm'banee torques due to gravitation,d torques
tions can 1)e conveniently divided into the cate-
resulting from mass unbalance, magnetic
gories of sensors and lorquers. The primary
tor(lues due to the reaction of current loops in
sensors consist of rate gyros to measure initial
the spacecraft to the earth's magnetic field,
tumbling rates, sohtr sensors to estal)lish sun
direction, and six gimbaled star trackers. The aero(tynamie torques resulting from the small
l'ltter are capable of acquiring seleeted guide residual atmosphere at the orbital altit u(le, 'lnd
stat_ and tracking them eontimmusly, measur- lorques due to unbalanced solar pressure.
ing their bearing with respect io the Sl)aeeeraft The_ torques, 'dthout_h smallItotaling less
axes. Fro" final vernier or fine l)(>inling, the than 0.01 ill.-lt), become signifie'u_t if llmy are
56
sustained in one direction over a hmg period of

time. The result is a gradual increase in
nmmentum wheel speed until tile maximum
speed is reached. To unlo¼ld tile wheels, a low-
thrust jet system is 1)rovided, operating from
stored dry nitrogen. A tolal of 32 pounds of
41D
nitrogen at 3500 psi is stored aboard tile OAO
*/
for the high- and h)w-thrust jets. As a backup
to the jet mdoa(ling system, a novel magnetic
/
unloading system that uses magnetometers to
sense the instant,me(ms direction of the earth's
field is provided. A computer then propof
tions current to a set of three orthogonal coils
that interact with the earth's magnetic field to
produce the desired unloading torque.
The key to the stat>i]izalion system is the
gimbaled star Iracker, which must be able to FI(;UUE 6-5. Gimbaled star tracker with glass dome
1)oint (lie ()A() Io an accuracy ()f 1 mimde of renn)ved (view looking down telescope axis showing
half-mirror). Manufactured by Kollsman Instru-
arc and maintain the pointing direction within ment ( ,ompany.
15 arc seconds for 50 minutes of time. This
accuracy is required to assure that the desired ration of guide stars by the earth, maintenance
target stars will remain within the fieht of view of reference while shifting guide stars, and
of the experiment optics. Vsing the experi- re<lundaney for long life.
]llellt as all error Sf)llrce_ the [il,e inolllelltllnl
As is the ca_ of most complex stabilization
wheels are then ('al)abh, of hohlin_ an a('cura('y systems, the sinmlation and test programs are
of 0.1 arc second.
as difficult to design an(1 plan as the system it-
The star tracker consists of a small 3.5-ineh-
self. With the many variables that exist in the
(tiameter reflecting telescope mounted in two system, a complex anah)g-digital simulation*
degree-of-freedom mechanical gimbals. The was required to prove system operation and
incoming star image is split into two light
stability. In addition, an advanced test, faeil-
beams lo i)rovide error signals about tile two
it5",# which will 1)e used to test the actual hard-
ginfl)a] axes. The errors are (letermined by a
ware under condit ions closely simnlating orbital
novel system of vibrating reeds, which mo(hflate
operation, is nearing completion (Figure 6-6).
the light received 1)y a p]mtomultil)lier. The
resulting error signals are used io drive the (h" The con,plete spacecraft electronic system is
torque.r motors on the giml)al axes. (_iml)al be ng installed on a rigid i)latform that is pre-
angles are measured by variable capacit'mce cisely balanced on a 22-inch-diameter air bear-
transducers, which ]rove a resolution apl)roaching. The air bearing consists of a hollow
ing 5 arc. seconds. The entire star _racker is stainless-steel b'tll that has 1)een lal)ped to less
sealed within a glass <lome: and, since it is ex- than 0.0001-inch error in sphericity and is sup-
pose(l, it must withstand a wide range of t(,m- ported t)y 'fir |)ressure in a. cast epoxy socket.
l>erature conditions. A star tracker is shown in
*Zetkov, G., "rod Fleisig, R., "l)ynamic Antdysis of
Figure 6 .) mimls the (h)me. Six star trackers CA() Simcecraft Motion by Analog-Digit'fl Simulation,"
in: IRE lntr'rnat. Co_vcntion Record, Ncu, York,
:u'e l)rovided, ](,)kin_ along the plus and minus
Murch 1962, New York: Institute _ff Radio Engineers,
directi<ms <)f the three axes. The nmximum 19(;2, Vol 10, I'l. 5, I)P- 2S2-21_;.
¢ hngram, I). A., Stern, E., and Ziemer, R. R., "I)e-
gimba] motion is ±45 degrees. Although only
sign and Testing of an Ultra-IIigh Accuracy Satellite
two trackers are sufli<'ient t(> lwovide pointing Stabiliz_qtion and Control System for the Orbiting As-
lrotmmical (H_servatory," in: t'roe. 13th h_tcrnat. As-
infornmtion under ideal conditions, the in-
tro_mntical Ct>ngrcss, Vurtlu, Bulgaria, September 19Cd,
crease<l mmd)er is provided t. alh>w for o<'cul- Vienna : Springer-Verlag (To be published).
57
commands for general housekeeping aboard the

observatory, such as equipment turn on and off
and power conservation measurers. The large
digital computer will also predict future status
data values, such as equipment temperatures_
battery charge status, voltages, and currents for
subsequent comp'/rison with actual transmis-
sions from the OAO. The prepared programs
are forwarded to remote stations by microwave
.r t eletyi)e , where they are stored for future use.
The three remote stations will be located at Ros-
man, North Carolina: Quito, Ecuador; and
Santiago, Chile. The locations were chosen to
provide at least one contact with the observa-
tory on each orbit. The OAO has a 100-minute
orbit, of which 8 to 10 minutes will be contact
with a ground station. A small digital com-
puter is installed at each remote station to store
commands, process status data, and feext infor-
mation to the displays. The observatory orbit
and its approach to a ground station are sig-
reded by a tracking beacon transmitting at 136
M('. When the obserwdory is within line of
Fmuar: (Hi. l)rawing ,ff space stabilization simulator
sight, commands are transmitted in digital
(under construction ; st.heduled for (.ompletion Janu-
ary 1, 1963). form at 104'2 bits/sec over the command link.
Two beacons and four conunand receivers are
Tile complete simulator is installed in a 22-foot- <'arried on the OAO to provide redundancy for
diameter vacuum sl)here to avoid thermal cur- long life. Commands are verified by echoing
rents and other extraneous air forces. The ('onunands back to the ground. The comple-
vacumn sl)here in turn is mortared on a 120-ton ment of each command is also transmitted to
seismic hnmdation. Large Helmholtz coils the observatory where a bit-by-bit coml)arison
within the sphere are used to simulate the is made.
earth's nmgnetic field under orbital conditions.
A solar simulator and collimated star simulators
comI)lete the facility. It will be possible to op-
(,rate the complete OAO system from a nearby
ground stat ion, using the actual spacecraft ratio
links raider disturbance torque conditions - "'i
closely al)l)roaching those l)redicted for flight.
COMMUNICATIONS AND GROUND

OPERATIONS
Programs for observatory in-orbit ot)erations

will be initially prepared in approxinmte fornl
by the exl)erimenters. These l)rograms will
then be converted to digital conunands by a
large computer at the (loddard Space Flight
('enter, where the cent ral contro] station will be IZmURE 6--7. l'rototype central control station showing
displays and computer. Manufactured by Westing-
located, Figure 6-7. The 1)rogram will include house Air Arm.
58
Information from the OAO is transmitted to for long life. Digital data can also be routed
the ground by both a 1042 bits/sec digital nar- through either link in the event of complete loss
row-band teletnelry link transmitting at 136 of one link.
Me and an an'dog or digital wide-b'mk telem- Antenna configurations have been developed
etry link transmit.ring at. 400 Mc. The narrow- and tested in :m anechoic chamber to provide
band link is a PCM system used primarily for excellent splwrical coverage. Beacon and
spacecraft stal us data that are monitored on the narrow-band t r'msmissions are handled by slo_
ground and compared with predict ions to mo<t- alltellnas ill the solar arrays. The wide-trend
ify future programs, investigate malfunctions antennas consist of pitchfork eonfigur,dions
and, if necessary, institute an emergency mounted on the sides of the body.
"tI()I:D'" program already stored aboard the
DATA PROCESSING
GAG. The wide-band transmitter is the pri-
mary link for tile experimenters' data. The ex- The <tara processing system of the OAO is
perimenters' data storage is read out at a 50,000 designed to han<lle all data going to and from
bit/see rate over this link. Experimenters' sta- lhe observatory, including comnrmds, experi-
tus data are transmited at 1042 bits/sec. Analog menlers' data, and status data on both the space-
d'mt from the experiment or from the stellar craft and the experiment. It also in<;ludes two
television camera are also handled over the magnetic core storages : one for storing delayed
wide-band link and can be used for i_al-tinle <'ommands, and the other fox" experimenters'
operation of the experiment when within range data obtained while operating out of line-of-
of a ground station. Two wide-band and two sight of a ground station. A block diagram of
narrow-band transmitters provide redundan<,y the system is shown in Figure 6-8.
ANALOG TV _ TO WIDE - BAND

r
I i
EXPERIMENT
I EXPERIMENT I
DATA
I EQUIPMENT I
HANDLING
I I
L- ........ J STORAGE
l
DATA _ I TRANSMITTER
__[__
SPACECRAFT J DATA
INSTRUMENTATION
1
SIGNAL
TO NARROW- BAND
CONDITIONING
.j_ DATA G TRANSMITTER
EQUIPMENT
/ GIMBA L DATA
PROGRAMMER J I STABILIZATION &

SYNC
& STARTRACKER J CONTROL SYSTEM
I
SIGNAL Jl SUBSYSTEM DMJNG CLOCK TIMING
J
CONTROLLER ]L_ I
T CONTROL [ [ TIMING
?
STORAGE I
COMMAND J
CONTROL
DELAY LINE COMMAND H COMMAND RECEIVER VIDEO
SIGNAL
JUNCTION
ADAPTER
BOX
LOGIC I t
DECODER & _ EXPERIMENT COMMANDS
ATTITUDE & GIMBAL DISTRIBUTOR _I COMMANDS TO

/ OTHER SUBSYSTEMS
COMMANDS
4
TO GAG EQUIP. CONTROL COMMANDS COMMANDS
TO PSSC
PIGURE ('1--8. Data processing subsystem.
59
Tile conunand receiver relays commands to analog-digital encoders, programmers, shift

lhe decoder and distril)utor, which verifies, de- registers, and a clock. The function of the
codes, and routes commands either directly to equipInents is to gather and prepare data in a
the al)propriate subsystem in the case of real- suitable format for transmission or storage.
time operations or to the command storage for The data storage is arranged in two halves
the delayed mode. Each command word con- that can be operated in either a redundant or
sists of 32 bits, of which 30 bits contain com- nonredundant mode. The total storage capa-
mand information. Seven types of commands bility is 204,800 bits and is made up of two ar-
are handled, of which a typical command would rays of 64 x 64 planes_ 25 planes in depth--
he a gimt)'d angle ('()nulland to a sial" tracker. thus 1)roviding for 8192 data words of 25 bits.
This command would he coinl)osed of the fol- Data are stored by means of 25 parallel lines
lowing two 32-bit words: from the experimenters' and spacecraft data
handling equipment. Readout to the ground
First Wo, rd
is handled through the data programmer,
Bits I and 2 Registration
Real-time or Delayed Mode which establishes word format and maintains
Bit 3
Bits 4, 5, 6 OI)eration Code ( Command synchronization.
Type) The programmer and star tracker signal con-
Bits 7, 8 Unused
troller furnishes the stabilization system with
Bits 9 through 17 Execution Time
Address sequencing control of the star tracking stabiliza-
Bits 18 through 25
Bit 26 Unused tion modes. It can inhibit the error signal of
Bits 27 through 31 Star Tracker Selection Code a malfunctioning star tracker and indicates
Bit 32 Unused successful star acquisition. It is considered a
Neco_d IVord
part of the data processing system because of
Bits 1 and 2 Registration
its digital nature, although its primary func-
Bits 3 through 17 Inner Gimbal Angle
Bits 18 through 32 Outer Gimhal Angle tions are more closely related to the stabiliza-
tion and control system.
'Fhe command storage can store 128 command Desi_ma ,_nd construction techniques used in
words and has quadruple redundancy for long the data processing system are of particular
life. Both the command storage and the sepa- interest. All digital equipment makes use of
rate data storage are constructed of double- "quad redundant" circuitry for maximum re-
aperture ferrite cores that provide nondestruc- liability. Circuits are packaged in welded
t ire readout, permitting periodic check readouts module form, encapsulated, and interconnected
of the command memory for verification. by printed circuit boards. Similar redundant
The data processor also contains a system circuit and welded module techniques are
clock that provides timing and synchronization used wherever possible in other spacecraft
signals for observatory equipment, and delay suhsystems.
line logic--which is used to store gimbal angles POWER SUPPLY
for use in the stabilization and control system.
The OAO is powered by silicon solar cells.
Experinmnters' data, and I)oth the experiment
An excess of power is generated during the
and spacecraft status data, are handled by sunlit part of the orbit and is stored in nickel-
equipments that are relatively separate from cadmium batteries for use during the dark part
the main spacecraft command system. The ex- of the orbit. A battery charge and sequence
1)eriment data handling equipment can transfer controller controls the charging of the three
data directly to the wide-band transmitter, and 20 amp-hr batteries and selects the proper bat-
the spacecraft data handling equipment can levy for use. A central power supply system
operate directly through the mu'row-band trans- consisting of a voltage regulator-converter and
mitter-the object being to provide multiple an inverter supplies all spacecraft and experi-
paths in case of malfunctions. These equipment requirements. The solar cells are p-n
ments contain analog gates, digital gates, type, consisting of an n-type silicon wafer onto
60
which is diffused a p-type boron layer. Thir- array output varying from 680 to 89,0 watts
teen percent efficiency cells are used (tungsten for the maximum range of sun incidence angles.
light measurement) with a 6-mil cover glass
providing radiation l)rotection. A total of al)- ADDITIONAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
l)roxinuttely 60,000 cells is used to generate a

Experiments are packaged in an experiment
l)ower of 6_(I watts under the most mffavorable
container that provides the basic structure to
orientation of the tixed l)addles ('_7 degrees align the exl)eriment to the spacecraft structure
trway from the normal). The ('ells are arranged and in addition provides a lightweight sealed
to provide an m_re_ulated voltage of 28 volts. dust cover that is maintained under positive
Ni('kel-(_admium batteries were sl)eeified by pressure, with dry nitrogen on the ground to
GSFC because of good past experience in their t)rote('t the optics. Mobile ground handling
ability to withstand thousands of charging equipment has 1)een designed to protect both
cycles. The cell and battery under develop- the experiment and the spacecraft from the
ment for the OAO have been described by Shair handling loads involved in shipping them to
.rod Gray.* Under normal operation, only one GSFC and, finally, to the Atlantic Missile
battery powers the observatory. The other two Range.
are periodically trickle-charged. If the volt- A mobile set of checkout equipment is de-
age of the operating battery drops below 23 signed to support each flight spacecraft in the
volts, a reserve battery is switched-in by the feld. The equil)ment , which is installed in a
charge controller. The ul)per v'flue of voltage truck trailer, is similar to the ground opera-
from the solar array is limited to 34 volts by tional equil)ment in that it serves a similar func-
the charge controller, which establishes the tion during observatory checkouts.
limits of the unregulated bus as 23 to 34 volts.
CONCLUSIONS
The average det)th of disctmrge for a battery
during a typical orbit is 40 percent. It is too early in the 1)rogram to present final
The voltage regulator and converter supplies conclusions on this OAO; however, certain ten-
all dc requirements of the OAO. Output volt- tative conclusions can be reached on the basis
ages are +0_,8, + 18, + 10, - 10, and -28 volts. of design, manufacturing, and test work com-
The inverter supplies three, two, and single pleted to date :
phase current at 400 cycles and 26 volts. 1. The feasibility of the OAO design has
Depending on the amount_ of equipment, op- t)een proven, and the critical initial perform-
erating and their duty cycles, the total load will ance requirements have been maintained
vary from 295 to 360 watts. The battery charge through the detail design and early testing
efficiency of 70 percent results in additional phases of the program.
losses of 4(3 to 5(; watts with a resulting total 9,. The structure and thermal design of the
load of 341 to 416 watts. Using a conserva- ()At) have been proven over the full range of
tive 60-percent-sunlight orbit and alh)wing for environments and demonstrates that satisfac-
other inefficiencies in the system, the power in- tory alignment can be maintained through the
put required from the solar cell '/rray varies launch phase and that the passive thermal de-
from 600 to 720 watts. For an 80-percent- sign will satisfy both experiment, equipment,
sunlight orl)it, the maximum power require- and structural requirements.
ment is 580 watts. This compares with a solar 3. The effectiveness of long-life desi_l by
use of redundancy from the black box level
*Shair, R. C., and Gray, W., "Itermetieally Sealed down to, and including, detail circuit design
Nickel-Cadmium Batteries for the Orbiting Astronmu-
teal Observatory Satellite," Paper presented at the can I)e proven only with additional exI)erience;
Amer. Rocket Soe. Space Power Systems ('onf., Santa
however, early test results offer hope of major
Moniea, Calif., September 2.5-2_, 1962, ARS Preprint
2508--62. gains from this approach.
61
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS l_adiation, and Kollsman. The engineers of

lhe Goddard Space Flight Center hold a e|ose
M_uy organizations lmve provided iml)or-
tant assistance in tlle OA() design. Ma.ior partnership in the design. Many other com-
(.ontribution,_ to the system design have been panies have contributed in the detailed hard-
made by (h'neral Electri(', I]_;M, Westrill_llouse, ware design and development.
62 u.s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1963 0_80692

_ __D__
i -_,_
_+.j •
--...._, 7
7__, _
L_ L.--
i_

The Observatory Generation of Satellites

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Observatory Generation of Satellites

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

NASA SP-30

/'i/d_ -/._ '/_/- //A<'7:Y/

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, December 27, 1962, during

the 129th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the

Prepared by Goddard Space Flight Center

O_ice of Scientific and Technical Information 1963

Godds, rd Space Flight Cealter

Foreword ............................................................... iii

1. THE MISSION OF THE ORBITIN(_ GEOPItYSICAL OBSERVATORIES___ 1

2. THE ENGINEERING DESIGN ()F THE ORBITING GEOPHYSICAL

3. THE MISSION OF THE A1)VANCEI) ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY_ 25

4. ONE APPROACH TO THE ENGINEERING DESIGN OF THE ADVANCED

5. THE MISSION OF THE ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY__ 45

6. THE ENGINEERING DESIGN OF THE ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL

__ '/ Goddard Space Flight Center

8. Reduced cost of follow-on missions, on an (E(}O), will t_ launched by an A,tlas Agena B

(lifferen! sl)a('e('raft designs. low (he ol)servatory to traverse the radiation

1. Magnetic Fields--The magnitude, direc- DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

Geocentric +_ 2 degrees 3. Prototype and flight instrunientation must

EGO Experiments a.nd Experimenters

Solar proton and x-ray flux,

It. A. Taylor, (;oddard Space Atmospheric composition.

Goddard Space Flight Center. ! tion.

POGO Experiments _-[r|ld Expel'imcntel'S

l'rincil)al Expcrimvntcr I'htqlOnltqll}ll ()bsl,rv(.1

F. T. Haddock, Vniv. of Michigan Galactic emission at 2.5 and 3.0

R. E. ltolzer, I;CLA, and E..1. Magnetic fieht fluctuations in the

Lab. and 1350A.

Sccretan, Goddard Space Flight

RECEIVING STATION DATA REDUCTION CENTER

-- 'I b °'z °''

REAL-TIME DATA J | TELEMETRY _

DISPLAY AND/OR h l TAPES TELEMETRY

ORBITING GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATORIES

_'/>aec T¢,et_n oloq.q L¢lt)oi'rttor;,,._

ATTITUDE CONTROL GAS JETS GAS JET BOOM

RADIATING SIDE OPEP \

400 - Mc HIGH GAIN ANTENNA

400 - Mc HIGH GAIN ANTENNA

FIGURE 2-1. Deployed OGO.

view of the 1)ody-mounted experiments. Gas

The main body of the spacecraft is a rectan-

"2 2. This resulls in a rather severe loading

se'cel'e reslriclions Oil lhe s<)lnr ill'Pay. Loc'l!

sliffeliin7 of lhe frlillleWOl'k liear SOllil_ of flit,

hoiddown pohlls h'l.s been liel'esslirv fo ]lold tile

The deploynient of the several appelidages

withhl tlOllll(|s. I11 a typical ellp,'ineel'illff lesi

£or ()lie ol e lhe slioi'ier l)ooliiS ( Figures 2-4. :2 5,

'rile thermal tout rol sy_i em has l>een designed

<)f :tluniiltized Myhu', 1)rovi(lil+g a liearly perfect

FIGVRE '26. Short booms, deploymetit test experinient

gravity for<'e without a(|ding to the forces tend-

FIlII:IIE '_ _, Therllltt[ (,unlrol hillVOl'S.

i+ actualetl hy it hhnetallh' ,_l)rilig use<l hoth to

set|st' the leliil)eraiure (if lhe I)itliel lieneil, th it

tilid Io lirovi(le the ilt'.('e+Slil'y force 1o 1)ositioil

llll'e ri+e+, flip ]olivet'+ ;il'e ol)eued io ;tllow niol'e

Ill'tit l<) i'li(liale :i',xtty. _IVheli lhe lelilliel'titlli+e

(h'ol).< , i lley are oh)sod t<) ('oiiliiili it.

All early ,_tu(ly W:lS ('Oli(|li('ted to see whel tier

the teinl)erature c(>iihl lit, c()iltrolle(1 wilhmil

iil+ill;tlillg lhe +Ill'fill'e,',4 exlll>>:e(I 1o eli]tit' I'a(|itl -