Design, Fabricate and Test Spacecraft Automatic Active Discharge System (SAADS)

摘要

The objective of this contract is the design, fabrication, and testing of a Spacecraft Automatic Active Discharge System (SAADS) which will attempt to automatically control and dissipate the vehicle charge as a function of natural or induced disturbances in space. A microporcessor based controller will monitor and manipulate data from a Proton Electrostatic Analyzer (ESA) to determine if the vehicle charge is greater than a predetermined value and then activate a Plasma Source ot discharge the vehicle. The plasma source short circuits the charge. This equipment is to be flown as part of the BERT I payload to demonstrate the feasibility of the system for eventual use in a satellite in a true space environment. Keywords: Microprocessor programmer, Proton electostatic analyzer, Plasma source.