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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0218.PDF
One of the three surface stations to be used in the Syncom programme is this Army station at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The 60ft parabolic reflector aerial has on extremely high aiming accuracy; main contractors for the station are Sylvania Electric Products and the Bendix Corporation Missiles and Spaceflight This air-transportable aerial system is part of the Lakehurst, New Jersey, terminal for Syncom experiments. The complete terminal is mounted on eleven vehicles axis so that it is perpendicular to the plane of the orbit. This control system uses nitrogen under pressure. Periodic corrections will be made by another nitrogen jet which will be fired to adjust for changes in orbital speed. If everything goes well the satellite will reach the desired longitude within two weeks after launch. However, it is expected to be in position for communications testing—ship, satellite, Lakehurst and return—about five days after launch. Control of the Syncom spacecraft is conducted from the Com munications Spacecraft Control Center at Goddard, which is in constant communication by teletype and telephone with the communication ground stations and tracking stations. The com munication experiments will be conducted by the US Army Satellite Communications Agency. Tracking is carried out by tiie Mini track network and by the Syncom communication ground stations employing a range and range-rate system supplied to NASA by Space Technology Laboratories. Specialized telemetry and command equipment has been provided under contract to NAS'V by the Hughes Aircraft Company. The Syncom satellite, without aerials or apogee motor, is a cylinder 28in in diameter and 15|in high. The apogee motor rocket nozzle protrudes from one end, and communication aerials from the other. Weight of the spacecraft, including the apogee motor case empty of fuel, is 861b. Payload weight is 1501b at separation from the third stage of the Delta launch vehicle. The side surface of Syncom is covered with 3,840 silicon solar cells which supp energy to the nickel cadmium batteries. The satellite is built in two units. An outer structure suppoi s the solar panels and contains the nitrogen and hydrogen peroxioe gas control systems and most of the satellite's electronics. An inner structure supports the apogee motor and the remaining electronics. Aerials include a slotted-array aerial for communication trans mission, a dipole for communication receiving, and four whp antennas in a turnstile arrangement for telemetry and comman i.
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