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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0039.PDF
SCIENCE SCOPE The first automated test system for the radar on Canada's CF-18 Hornet has been delivered. The Radar Test System (RTS)—to be installed at the Canadian NATO base in Baden, West Germany—will be used to detect possible problems in the strike fighter's radar and return the unit to service quickly after maintenance or repairs. The radar itself has a built-in test system to isolate problems to a single unit. A technician simply removes the unit, connects it to the automatic RTS, and has the computer run appropriate tests. A video display reveals the problem and directs the technician to the fault. Hughes Aircraft Company produces the APG-65 multimission radar and the RTS for McDonnell Douglas. The RTS is also in service with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps and the Royal Australian Air Force. Helicopter pilots can fly low-level missions at night by using a new infrared system. The Hughes Night Vision System (HNVS) projects TV-like pictures of terrain on the pilot's helmet visor to aid in navigation through darkness, haze, or smoke. It uses a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor mounted in a turret under the nose of the helicopter. When the pilot glances in any direction, a helmet servo linkage causes the turret to aim automatically along his line of sight. HNVS can superimpose flight symbology on the helmet to further save the pilot from looking down at cockpit instruments. Hughes designed, developed, and produces the system. Test firings of the TOW 2 antitank missile from the Lightweight Armored Vehicle have shown that the U.S. Marine Corps has an effective new battlefield punch. The TOW 2 can be guided through battlefield smoke, haze, or dust—day or night—because of improvements made to the basic TOW launcher and night sight. The sight now functions as a totally independent, redundant fire control sensor, operating in parallel with the optical sight used to track the missile in daylight and clear visibility. A thermal beacon has also been added to the aft end of the missile. Hughes produces the wire-guided TOW 2 for the Marine Corps and Army. Satellite images have led to the discovery of a large Mayan city hidden for centuries by the jungles of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Scientists uncovered over 100 possible ancient sites by studying false-color images provided by Landsat earth resources satellites. Jungles typically are made to appear bright red in these pictures. The ruins appeared pink or light red, because foliage had not grown as densely over the sites as it had in the neighboring jungle. The Landsat images also revealed the existence of vast farmed fields that may prompt new theories of how the ancient civilization was able to feed itself. The imaging instruments aboard the Landsat satellites, called multispectral scanners, were built by the Santa Barbara Research Center, a Hughes subsidiary. A new widebody satellite is designed to be launched economically from NASA's space shuttle. The Hughes HS 393, the domestic communications satellite of the future, is a drum-shaped, spin-stabilized spacecraft with a diameter of 3.6 meters and an overall height of 10 meters fully deployed. Stowed for launch with the forward solar array and antenna telescoped inside the aft solar array, the satellite stands 3.4 meters high, or one-fourth of the shuttle's cargo capacity. It would be deployed using a concept similar to throwing a Frisbee flying disc. A spring mechanism spins the satellite to 2 rpm to provide gyroscopic stability. When the satellite is a safe distance away, onboard thrusters fire to increase the spin rate. It then rockets into geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles high. For more information write to: P.O. Box 11205, Dept. 741, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 HUGHES
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