The Gas Supply System consisted of (1) a Recirculation Subsystem which continu¬ously compresses nitrogen from the platform and recirculates it to the gas bearings used in the AMAB-3 accelerometers and the AB-5 gyros, and (2) a Gas Make-up Subsystem for feeding nitrogen into the Recirculation Subsystem at a rate sufficient to match any reasonable leakage rate from the circulating loop to space ambient.nThe major accomplishment of contract NAS 8-11660 was development of a unique type of compressor for the Recirculation Subsystem. The compressor, referred to as a Resonant Piston Compressor, was designed for (1) a minimum of 10,000 hours of continuous, maintenance-free operation, (2) zero contamination of the nitrogen gas, (3) hermetically sealable construction, (4) operation during launch, and (5) operation over an ambient temperature range of 0 to 60°C. Over 4,000 hours of testing of the two compressors supplied under contract NAS 8-11660 confirmed that the Resonant Piston Compressor could probably meet the above objectives.nThis report describes work performed under contract NAS 8-20720 to achieve the following improvements to the Resonant Compressor design: (1) size reduction via the use of a different type of resonant spring, (2) ability to operate under higher levels of transverse g loading, and (3) use of aluminum castings for the drive solenoid mounting bracket and for the compressor enclosure. One compressor incorporating these improvements was built and tested by MTI, and has been shipped to NASA-MSFC for further evaluation tests.
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