Professional Documents
Culture Documents
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Ariel I, the International Ionosphere Satellite, in orbit attitude.
I
NASA SP-119
prepared by
GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
Greenbelt, Maryland
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 1
Scope .................................................................. 1
Contributors ............................................................ 1
Background ............................................................ 2
Organization and Management ......................................... 3
Satellite Performance .................................................. 6
Related Documents ..................................................... 7
Chapter
Chapter 8
Chapter _,
Chapter 5
vii
Chapter 6
°o°
VUl
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
The purpose of the Ariel I Project Results overall description of the project, its organi-
Summary Document is to outline the history zation, and a brief summary of the perform-
and document the results of this many faceted ance of the satellite, its subsystems and experi-
project in a single convenient reference. It ments. Chapter 2 is a technical summary of
would, of course, be impractical to include in the satellite outlining the technical plan and
detail all of the many documents, notes, re- describing its principal physical and func-
ports, etc., produced during the course of the tional features. Chapter 3 provides a descrip-
tion and discussion of results of each of the
project. However, this summary attempts to
cover the project in sufficient depth of detail United Kingdom experiments. Chapter 4
to lead the reader directly to whatever de- describes each of the major sub-systems pro-
vided by the GSFC and comments on the
tailed information he may need on a given
performance of each. Chapter 5 is a sum-
facet of the program without further re-
mary of tracking and data acquisition
search. A comprehensive list of references
operations along with an evaluation of these
and a bibliography are included for this pur-
operations. Chapter 6 summarizes the data
pose.
processing performed by both the U.K. and
A previous summary, NASA Special Pub-
the GSFC. Those processing functions per-
lication (SP-43),* Ariel I The First Inter-
formed by the U.K. that were peculiar to a
national Satellite, outlined the program up to given experiment are described in Chapter 3
the time of launch, April 26, 1962. Some of along with the appropriate U.K. experiments.
the information contained in that document
is repeated here for the sake of convenience.
However, the emphasis here is on outlining CONTRIBUTORS
the events that occurred during the period
This document is a collection of descrip-
from launch to the end of the useful life of
tions and reports authored prior to and after
the satellite in November 1964, and on docu-
the launch of Ariel I (April 26, 1962). These
menting the results of the experiments car- contributions have been edited, revised, and
ried aboard the satellite.
updated to produce continuity. The follow-
ing "-* ----_,.,a_ ,_,_ au_,,,_ ,_,ha hnvo nro-
SCOPE
vided major contributions to this summary.
This summary is divided into six major
sections of which this introduction is the first.
The remainder of this section is devoted to an United Kingdom Contributors
I
J SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTATION
r-- I I
I°°°°A_°
_FLIo_T
_EN,E_
SPACE
C_,RO_ECT_ASA
scOSFCENT
ST
--" UN,_E_S,T¥
COLLEOE,
I__UNI_E_S,T¥
OF
J UN,_E_S,T
OF_
CESTE,
I
I I Il
&DATA
TRACKING
L ACQUISITION INSTRUMENTATION J
LAUNCH
COORDINATION
V[HICLE & I
I
IONS AND
J ELECTRONS
storage. GSFC supplied the vehicle, was Solar aspect meter (1)
responsible for launch, performed data ac- Electron density sensors (1)
quisition via the worldwide STADAN (Mini- X-ray counters (2)
track) network, and provided a part of the
data processing. The United Kingdom Spacecraft Characteristics
(U.K.) had the responsibility for the design, Size, basic structure--23 inches O.D. by 22
fabrication, and testing of all flight sensors inches high
and their associated electronics up to the Weight--136 pounds
telemetry encoder input. The U.K. also was Spin rate--36 to 12 rpm throughout life
responsible for final data reduction, analysis Lifetime--1 year
and interpretation. The distribution of re- Powerip-on-n solar cells and nickel-cad-
sponsibilities is outlined in Figure 1-1. mium batteries
A list of the experiments and electronic Data Storage--100-minute tape recorder
subsystems follows. The experiments and Antenna--modified crossed dipole
subsystems are described in detail in Chap- Tracking and data frequency--136.408 Mc
ters 3 and 4, respectively. nominal
Electron temperature and density sensors (2) Imperial College Cosmic Ray
Ion mass sphere (1) London
Solar radiation detectors, Lyman-alpha at Professor H. Elliot Project Scientist
1216A (3) Dr. J. J. Quenby Alternate
A R I E L I: T H E F I R S T I N T E R N A T I O N A L S A T E L L I T E
f IMPERIAL COLLEGE
G S F.C ELEC
\ rECT(
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
ELECTRONICS PACKAGE
)CK
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
PROBE
JG
\e
1 ,
HARNESS SUF
X-RAY G)
UNIVERSITY OF LO
ELECTRONICS P4C
BATTERY F
ASPECT SENSOR A!
INERTIA BOOM
e
7
4 ENSITY
a
L
t
FIGURE
1-2. Cutaway view of Ariel I.
4
INTRODUCTION
Mr. J. T. Shea U.S. Coordinator in the U.K. were decided by the British
Mr. H. J. Peake Telemetry RF National Committee for Space Research
Dr. R. W. Rochelle Telemetry coding under the chairmanship of Sir Harrie Mas-
Mr. J. C. Schaffert Sequence program- sey.
ming In the case of subsystems, the work (and
Mr. P. T. Cole Data Storage contract monitoring) was the responsibility
Mr. C. L. Wagner, Mechanical Design of the individual in charge of a given sub-
Jr. system.
Mr. F. C. Yager- Power Supply Reports indicating progress in accomplish-
hofer ing scheduled milestones and summarizing
Mr. M. Schach Thermal Design the project status were furnished by GSFC
Mr. R. E. Kidwell, Thermal Design to NASA Headquarters on a biweekly basis
Jr. as required by NASA Management Instruc-
Mr. W. H. Hord, Jr. Environmental tion G-2-3, "Program Management Plans."
Testing The U.S. Project Manager submitted to the
Mr. J. M. Turkie- Electrical Systems Director, GSFC, each week a written report
wicz Integration that described significant events occurring on
Mr. C. H. Looney Tracking Systems the project, highlighted problem areas, and
Mr. H. E. Carpenter Tracking Opera- indicated any assistance that was required.
tions Periodic presentations on the Ariel I proj-
Mr. C. J. Creveling Data Reduction ect were made to the GSFC Executive Council.
Mr. A. Buige Operations Control This group, chaired by the Director of GSFC,
Mr. C. P. Smith Atlantic Missile was composed of top management officials.
Range, Vehicle The presentations covered all significant as-
Coordination pects, such as funding, procurement, etc.
Mr. R. H. Gray Atlantic Missile Emphasis was placed on defining problem
Range, Opera- areas and applying necessary measures to
tions and Launch resolve them.
Director The U.S. Project Manager made monthly
submissions of data for the NASA Adminis-
Management responsibility for the Ariel I trator's progress report. Such data included
project was assigned as follows: the progress made on Ariel I project objec-
Project Management tives during the previous month, progress
made during current month, and plans for
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was the coming month.
assigned project management responsibilities The U.S. Project Manager was responsible
for the Ariel I project. for the preparation of semi-annual budget
Each country had an Ariel I Project Man- reports on his project.
ager, Project Coordinator, and Project Sci-
entist. All working decisions were subject Experiment Systems Management
to the approval of the Project Managers. Experiment systems management respon-
Responsibility for the coordination of the _ibi!ities were ,ecepted by the U.K. Project
many aspects of the overall program was Manager and his staff, later to become the
vested in the Project Coordinators. The Space Research Management Unit, Office of
Project Scientists were responsible for the the Minister for Science.
ultimate compatibility and integration of the
various experiments. Overall policy matters Spacecraft Systems Management
were decided by the NASA Administrator Goddard Space Flight Center was assigned
for the United States and by the Minister system management responsibilities for the
for Science for the U.K. Scientific matters Ariel I spacecraft system.
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
Tracking and Data System Management part of its first passage in orbit. These were
especially important because they were de-
Goddard Space Flight Center was assigned
signed to provide confirmation of the way
system management responsibilities for the
the release mechanism for aerials, booms and
Ariel I tracking and data system. Acquired
solar paddles which should come into play
data were sent to the United Kingdom after
soon after separation from the final stage
processing (digitizing), and the U.K. was
rocket motor, had operated. The problem
responsible for data reduction and analysis.
was solved through the generous co-operation
of the British Admiralty who made available
NASA Headquarters Direction
a ship, H.M.S. Protector, in the South Atlan-
The Director, Office of Space Sciences, tic at the planned launch time. Suitable
NASA Headquarters, was responsible for receiving equipment was fitted and manned.
overall direction and evaluation of the per- However, the first launch date could not be
formance of the Goddard Space Flight Cen- kept and there was a postponement. The
ter as the Ariel I Project Management Cen- new date was not possible for H.M.S. Protec-
ter and as the Systems Management Center tor, which had to return to base, but in a very
for the spacecraft and the tracking and data short time the Admiralty arranged for the
systems. frigate H.M.S. Jaguar to be available.
The Director, Office of International Pro- Equipment was fitted at Simonstown and the
grams, NASA Headquarters, was responsible signals from Ariel were successfully re-
for defining and interpreting international corded.
agreements relating to the project and for Data acquired by the H.M.S. Jaguar was
providing the United States (NASA) co- of particular significance because the release
ordination with the United Kingdom. mechanisms failed to release at the proper
time and in proper sequence. In spite of this
SATELLITE PERFORMANCE failure, by sheer good fortune the satellite
was injected into its proper orbit at the
The overall performance of Ariel I was planned spin rate. A more serious failure
outstanding in the light of several potentially during launch was that of the Lyman-a ex-
catastrophic events that occurred during its periment. Since none of the three sensors
lifetime, the ambitious scope of the project, produced any data during the life of the
and the many potential hazards to the success satellite, it is assumed that a failure occurred
of a highly complex spacecraft. The planned in the electronics common to all sensors.
fully integrated attack on designated areas of Other than these two failures, all satellite
knowledge of the upper ionosphere was al- systems and experiments were operating
most realized during the first three months satisfactorily after launch.
of operation. Events after this period All experiments and systems that were
caused considerable degeneration in perform- operative immediately after launch remained
ance, but the long useful life of the satellite so for approximately three months. In July
compensated in part for this degeneration. 1963 the Starfish Event (high altitude nu-
Launch was originally scheduled for March clear explosion) presented a major hazard to
1962. This scheduled date was slipped ap- further successful operation. The initial
proximately one month because of a minor effect was to saturate almost all experiment
vehicle failure. Successful launch was ac- sensors. However, these, for the large part,
complished April 26, 1962. At a critical time recovered and continued to operate satisfac-
prior to the original launch date, the volcano torily. A more permanent effect was radia-
on the island of Tristan da Cunha chose to tion damage to the solar array, and other
erupt, thereby preventing establishing a components, which resulted in intermittent
temporary telemetry station there to receive and erratic satellite operation for the re-
signals from the satellite during the early mainder of its useful life. Appendix B pro-
INTRODUCTION
rides a complete mission profile summary of ment of a second processing line. The fact
overall satellite operation. that a large quantity of useful data were
Another significant failure occurred after acquired by experimenters was a tribute to
one year of operation. The one-year cut-off the effectiveness of the data processing func-
timer failed to operate. This particular fail- tions, both at the U.K. and the GSFC.
ure proved fortuitous in that it enabled useful
data to be gathered from the satellite until RELATED DOCUMENTS
November 1964. At that time it was judged
that performance had become too erratic to In addition to the specific reports refer-
provide further useful data. enced in the text, there are many reports
Other than the minor contretemps pre- relating to the design, development, and ex-
viously mentioned, tracking and data acqui- perimental measurements of Ariel I. The
sition operations went smoothly throughout reference and bibliography list at the end of
the program. GSFC data processing fell be- this summary report gives the specific reports
hind the acquisition rate temporarily, but referenced herein as well as an additional
the situation was remedied by the establish- bibliography of related documents.
CHAPTER 2
TABLE 2-1.
Solar Emission/Ionosphere
Cosmic Ray
Electron Density-
Plasma Dielectric
Constant
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
of radiation from the sun in the ultraviolet the Lyman-alpha radiation is relatively con-
(Lyman-alpha) and x-ray bands of the solar stant but that x-ray emissions are quite
radiation spectrum. Lyman-alpha radia- variable with solar conditions• Unfortu-
tions originate in the sun's chromosphere nately the Lyman-alpha experiment failed at
(solar surface), while x-rays originate far- launch and no data were gathered from this
ther out in the area around the sun known as experiment.
the corona. Previous work has shown that The sixth experiment measured primary
P LO E ELO C--------.... I
DELTA SHIELD
OUTLINE I _ I _ II'lll'l'l_rll'l'l
_I , I _ _SOLAR PADDLEHINGE RELEASE
MECHANISMS
iwj,
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 \
INCHES SENSOR BOOM, ELECTRON DENSITY
_ ELECTRONICS
/
,"
'..r'a.
..,_. • _
PASyTt:AD= FR: NG "_'X. RAy GAGE 7
- _A _,.,,-,.3 _
SO:'_::_'DDL
"''__ x- 248-
SURFACE ASPECT SENSOR / XmRAY C_AGE SOLAR PADDLE MOTOR
SOLARCELL,MODULE
I,l,l,l,_,l,t,l,l,l,I
I'1'1'1'1'1'1'1'1'1'1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
INCHES
l0
GENERAL TECHNICAL SUMMARY
/ PACI<
carried on board the Ariel I. Simultane-
"ARNESS
SUPPO_T%/_
ously, measurements of secondary cosmic
rays were made by means of ground observa- _ ._Y/V_N-ALPHA DETECTOR
tion and by means of aircraft, balloons, etc. UNIVERSITY_-----_'7_" \ ._._._--ntc¢_ ") _..-2',_2_\\
COLLEGE _ _(/'_ //_ _ ).'_k.'_-I-YEAR CLOCK
listed above, which are essentially scientific, PAC KA GES k k\_ _/_ _//'_" _ ,u_ TURN-ON PLUG
ll
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
Above this, on an eight-inch-long conical and located 45 degrees up and down from the
cylindrical section tapering from a three- equator and directly opposite the Lyman-
inch to one-inch diameter was a four-inch- alpha gages.
diameter ion mass sphere whose center of
mass is located 14 inches above the forward ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
face of the main body. Relationships among the major electronic
Four turnstile antennas, spaced circum- subsystems are shown in figure 2-3. In
ferentially at 90 degrees and angling up at general the probes, conditioning circuits,
45 degrees, were mounted on the top spherical and subcarrier oscillators were designed and
section perpendicular to the sphere at the supplied by the U.K., and the remaining cir-
interfaces. cuits were provided by NASA/GSFC. Those
There were three flush-mounted solar radi- circuits shown in figure 2-3 do not include
ation (Lyman-alpha) detectors on the satel- any of those experiments contained in the
lite skin: two at 60 degrees (one up and one Dutchman nor the orbital injection program-
down) from the equator, and one on the mer. These were omitted because they are
equator. All three were in the same vertical not a part of the actual spacecraft, even
plane and in the same 180-degree sector. though they are important parts of the pro-
There were two proportional x-ray counters gram.
UMBILICAL
AWAY
LIMITER
I
ELECTRON CONNECTOR . I VOLTAGE
DENSITY TO BLOCK
- ;, ,M,TER
SHUNTI/ I
_'_N-ON
HOLD-OFF
X RAYS SWITCHING BATTERY B • "_
RELAY BATTERY [ I:RECEPTACLE PLUG RP CIRCUITS
TAPE
ION MASS ENCODERS RECORDER
ION MASS
SPECTROMETER MATRIX, DC
SPECTROMETER
PROBE POWER
UNIT, & MIXEI
PROGRAMMER
J TEMPERTURE TAPE
SATELLITE I
AND SELECT[ RECORDER
PARAMETER S __J
VOLTAGES
SIGNAL
RECORDER -- POWER
TAPE
CONTROL [
12
GENERAL TECHNICAL SUMMARY
'iiiii!:
_ 60
iili/:.....
3O
150 120 90
J
60 30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180
13
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
5. Second-stage separation and retro- 12. Final rate of spin at the end of 1
rockets fired. year should be less than 12 rpm.
6. Burnout of third stage. Steps 8, 9 and 10 of this sequence were not
7. Coast to allow outgassing (thrust) of accomplished in this order (See Chapter 4),
the third stage to cease. but de-spin was accomplished, and the space-
8. De-spin of the third-stage--payload craft was injected into its planned orbit.
combination (first de-spin) to 76.5 rpm, by
releasing "stretch yo-yo" de-spin device. SPACECRAFT ORBIT
9. Release and erection of experiment Planned orbit parameters are listed in
booms (second de-spin) and de-spin to 52.4 Chapter 1 and a comparison of planned ver-
rpm. sus actual orbit is given in Chapter 5. Figures
10. Release and erection of the inertia 2-4 and 2-5 provide an approximate pictorial
booms and paddles, de-spin (third de-spin) presentation of overall orbital coverage.
to 36.6 rpm. Figure 2-4 shows several orbits plotted
11. Separation of the payload from the against a Mercator projection of the earth.
third stage at a differential velocity of 7 In Figure 2-5 orbits are plotted against a
ft/sec. cross section of the earth and ionosphere.
14
CHAPTER 3
SATELLITE
say, Z>_6, is negligible both in the Earth's
albedo radiation and in the radiation belt.
CAT" IE SKIN
i
GEIGER COUNTERS & ELECTRONICS
of the cosmic-ray experiment on board the POTTED IN ECCOFOAM
16
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
EMITTER k_ VARIABLE
HIGH-SPEED
ENCODER GATE
SWITCHING
BINARY
LOW-SPEED
BINARY DATA STORE ENCODER GATE
LOW SPEED
ENCODER GATE
D HIGH-SPEED
ENCODER GATE
GEIGER CHANNEL
J°_,_l_.J _UL_
L__72_'--_
TUBE
I-IAMPL'F'ERI-
I I
f
ENCODER SYNC PULSE TO PHOTOMULTIPLIER
_,,ST,_B,L,ZEDPOWER
SUPPL,E_
,000
Vlllllltltllt
-" CONVERTERTI
STABIL,ZE_ W_ggE_
hlsTAB,L,ZER
7_A'_
_
TO EMITTER FOLLOWER, TO GEiGER TUBE
DISCRIMINATOR, GATES
FIGURE 3--2. Block diagram showing the electronics systems for the Cerenkov and G-M counters.
tape recorder read out the previous 100 min- counted until 256 of them had passed through
utes of data on command from a ground the detector. The 256th particle actuated
station. The encoder gate ensured that the the switching binary which changed the at-
reading of the binary store did not change tenuator setting into its alternate position,
during the sampling period. thereby reducing the phototube output pulse
Because of the possibility of drift in the by a factor 1.8 so that the discriminator could
sensitivity of the phototube, provision was then respond only to particles passing through
made for fill lll-lli_xtb *-,xs.,,._..x_. .......... the Perspex sphere with Z_>6. When 256
changing the sensitivity of the system by a particles in this category had been counted
known factor. This was accomplished by the switching binary was again actuated and
using the variable attenuator shown in the the system counted alternately 256 particles
block diagram in figure 3-2. This attenuator Z>5 and Z>6. The state of the switching
had two possible settings determined by the binary was transmitted by the telemetry sys-
state of the switching binary at the end of tem so that the gain setting was known at
the chain. One setting was chosen so that any particular time. The data could, there-
the discriminator responded to particles with fore, be separated into two groups corre-
Z_>5, and particles in this category were sponding to the two positions of the attenu-
17
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
ator, and if the same spectrum is obtained charges close to a half. The discriminator
from the two sets of data we could feel confi- levels were chosen so that there was no re-
dent that our measurements were not influ- sponse to protons in the rigidity range with
enced by the sensitivity of the system. This which we are concerned here.
periodic change in gain also enabled us to The value of the geomagnetic threshold
establish the way in which the counting rate rigidity, Rm_n., depends not only on the posi-
depended on gain, and so permitted a cor- tion of the detector, but also on the direction
rection to be made for the drop in Cerenkov of arrival of the particles. A second conse-
light output from particles of low magnetic quence, therefore, of using a detector with a
rigidity where fl is appreciably less than wide angle of acceptance is that we must take
unity. a value for R,,,n. which has been obtained by
The detector was to be carried in a spin- averaging over the appropriate solid angle.
stabilized satellite, and was therefore de- During some parts of the orbit the detector
signed so that it would detect particles inci- was exposed to the very high electron and
dent within as large a solid angle as possible proton fluxes in the radiation belt. These
in order to minimize the effects of the con- fluxes might be many orders of magnitude
tinually changing orientation of the satellite greater than the particle intensity we wished
relative to the Earth. In this respect the to measure. Under such extreme conditions
ideal detector would, of course, have been there was a strong possibility that the opera-
completely omni-directional with a response tion of the detector would be affected in some
which was independent of satellite orienta- way by these very intense particle fluxes, and
tion. Such a detector would have been diffi- in order to guard against the possibility of
cult to construct and the design adopted here confusion a Geiger-Mtiller (G-M) counter
was necessarily a compromise. This design was included in the cosmic ray package. A
proved, however, to be entirely adequate and G-M counter has a high sensitivity to the
it will be shown that the effects of vehicle radiation belt particles and gives a clear indi-
orientation were negligible. cation when a satellite is in the radiation
There were two consequences of using this belt. The presence of this counter enabled
type of a detector. In the first place, because us, therefore, to detect and reject any data
of the multitude of different path lengths from the Cerenkov detector which might have
through the Cerenkov radiator, it was not been invalidated through the effects of radi-
possible with such a system to produce a ation belt particles. In addition, the G-M"
sharp resolution of particle charge since a counter provided, of course, data about the
high Z particle with a short path might pro- radiation belt particles themselves and about
duce the same amount of light as a low Z the total cosmic ray flux.
particle with a longer path. Consequently, The counter used was an Anton 302, which
when we speak of selecting particles with had a sensitive area of _ 0.5/cm 2. This
Z_>6 this was a nominal figure only and there counter and its associated electronics are in-
was some response to particles of lower Z. cluded in the block diagram in figure 3-2.
This was not important for the determination The output pulses from the counter were fed
of the rigidity spectrum, since we could safely through an encoder gate and stored in a 14-
assume that the modulation process would be element binary chain, which like the Ceren-
the same for all particles with the same spe- kov store, was sampled by both high and
cific charge and the same magnetic rigidity. low-speed encoders so that the data were
The validity of this assumption is borne out available from the continuous telemetry and
by the results of the present experiment, from the magnetic tape read-out. Because
which show that the measured spectrum is of the length of the telemetry sampling peri-
the same for both sensitivity levels. This od, the limitation in the size of the binary
was to be expected provided we excluded pro- store, and the requirement that the current
tons since all the heavier nuclei have specific through the G-M counter should not overload
18
UNITED K1NGD OM EXPERIMENTS
the EHT supply, it was necessary to restrict by _ 0.4 g/cm 2 aluminum and _ 0.1 g/cm 2
severely the dynamic range of this counter. Eccofoam.
This was achieved by means of a high series
resistance in the G-M counter voltage line, Detector Performance
which resulted in a maximum counting rate The cosmic-ray detector worked normally
of about 60 per second. At fluxes greater until 18 May when the satellite moved into
than _- 89 particles cm-2s -1 the rate of the 100% sunlight. Combination of these cir-
counter dropped to zero because of voltage cumstances with an unfavorable direction of
reduction by the series resistance. Thus the the spin axis achieved on launch resulted in
counter provided either a measure of the par- the thermal balance of the satellite being
ticle flux when it was within its dynamic upset. As a consequence, the temperature of
range or an unambiguous statement that the the cosmic-ray sensor rose above the design
flux was greater than _ 89 particles cm-2s -1 maximum of 60°C with the result that the
when it was beyond it. phototube suffered an irreversible drop in
The counter was situated inside the elec- sensitivity. This in itself was not serious,
tronics container in the position shown in the only effect being to reduce the statistical
figure 3-1. It was surrounded by a one mm accuracy of the measurements. The detector
lead shield and _ 2g/cm 2 of aluminium, iron, continued to operate in a stable fashion at this
Fiberglas, potting material, and electronic lower level of sensitivity until the Starfish
components. Its presence proved to be ex- nuclear explosion of 9 July 1962. Following
tremely useful both for the information it this explosion, very high fluxes of fission-
provided about the radiation belt and in en- product fl-particles were encountered by the
abling us to reject those data from the Ceren- satellite and on some parts of the orbit the
kov counter invalidated by a small response Cerenkov light generated by these electrons
in this detector to energetic protons in the in the 1 to 10 MeV range produced sufficient
inner radiation belt. This response arose in phototube current to overload the EHT sup-
the following way. The glass face of the ply and drop the voltage below the level at
phototube was a disk of thickness 2.5 mm and which the tube had enough gain to respond
diameter 5 cm. Scintillation light was pro- to cosmic rays. Some of the results of the
duced in this disk on passage of a charged Starfish explosion are discussed later in this
particle, and when a proton of energy _ 100 chapter. The G-M counter ceased to work
MeV traversed the glass with a path length at the beginning of September and the Ceren-
of a few centimeters, it could generate a light kov counter in mid-December. No command
pulse which exceeded that produced by a read-out data from the tape recorder were
relativistic carbon nucleus passing through available after mid-August.
the Perspex sphere. This effect has been A representative command read-out is
studied by exposing a spare unit in the proton shown in figure 3-3 where the counting rate
beam of the cyclotron at A.E.R.E. Harwell of the Cerenkov counter and the G-M counter
and it has been shown that the detector re- have been plotted as a function of time for a
sponds to protons in the energy range 80 to complete orbit. At the beginning of the
140 MeV. read-out, on the left, the satellite was near its
The position of the cosmic ray detector in northern apex, and as it moved towards the
the satellite is shown in figure 1-2. The equator and out to apogee both detectors
Perspex sphere of the Cerenkov detector lay showed the characteristic decrease in cosmic
on the spin axis and projected out beyond the ray intensity with decreasing latitude. This
front surface in order to reduce the amount was followed by a corresponding increase
of overlying material to a minimum. The after the satellite had crossed the equator and
University College positive ion probe was was moving towards its southern apex. The
mounted on a stem projecting beyond the double peak in. the G-M counter rate at high
Cerenkov sphere. The sphere was shielded southern latitudes was produced as the satel-
19
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTE RNATIONAL SATELLITE
!
! center of these intervals from the orbital
i "..., data. The corresponding value of the thresh-
Z I
I0 old rigidity, R,,_,, for cosmic rays arriving
vertically at the Earth's surface has been
|, obtained from the table of values prepared
I
# by Quenby & Wenk (1962) (2).
These data, taken from approximately 400
i;
orbits and for satellite altitudes lying be-
; -
",.%. tween 390 and 800 km, were grouped together
to obtain the average counting rate for heavy
nuclei as a function of threshold rigidity for
FICURE 3-3. Typical tape recorder command read-
the two attenuation levels of the detector.
out of Cerenkov (.) and G-M counter (o) rates.
In carrying out this analysis the data were
divided into two groups corresponding to the
lite crossed the magnetic shells corresponding
intervals preceding and following the change
to maximum intensity in the outer radiation
in phototube sensitivity which occurred dur-
belt. The Cerenkov counter did not respond
ing the period of high temperature. These
to these particles and showed the normal be-
intervals were 26 April to 18 May and 4 June
haviour to be expected when it was recording
to 8 July respectively.
cosmic rays. As the satellite moved once
The results of this analysis are shown in
more towards the equator and down to the
figure 3-4. The two attenuation levels have
perigee the rates of both detectors at first fell,
been plotted as a function of threshold rigid-
but then rose to a large peak in the equatorial
ity for each of these two time intervals. It
region as the satellite entered the inner radia-
will be seen that, fortuitously, the counting
tion belt where the lower boundary dips low
over the American continent. The G-M rate for the highest attenuation level during
counter went into saturation while the Ceren- the first interval was very nearly the same
as that for the lowest attenuation level during
kov counter showed an increase in rate due
the second interval. In order to derive the
to _ 100 MeV protons detected in the manner
correct integral spectrum we must make a
already described. On emerging from the
number of corrections and these will now be
radiation belt the rate reverted to that cor-
discussed in the order of importance.
responding to the cosmic ray fluxes as the
satellite moved towards its northern apex to Variation of Intensity of Cerenkov Light
complete its orbit in a period of _ 100 min- with Particle Velocity. The intensity of
utes. Cerenkov light radiated is proportional to
Command read-out data of this kind are (lml/fl'-'n'-') and we expect, therefore, that
available for a total of 830 orbits and about the sensitivity of the detector will diminish
half this number have been used in the spec- with diminishing R,,,. for particles with a
trum determination reported here. given Z. This diminution in light output
2O
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
Z
X
but we can achieve the same result by making U
ua
use of the in situ determination of the count- o:,
ATTENUATION
21
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
its orbit the direction of this axis is continu- FOR PARTICLES WITH
Z_6
ally changing relative to the local vertical.
Because of this we might expect some 'shad-
owing' of the detector by absorption of par-
ticles in the satellite itself. The direction of lC
Z
addition to the variation of threshold rigidity
with altitude already discussed, we may ex-
z
pect the vehicle altitude to affect our analysis
in another and quite different way. The
detector cannot receive particles from the
full solid angle to which it is sensitive because
of the shadowing effect of the Earth, and as
the altitude
angle subtended
of the vehicle varies so the solid
by the Earth will change.
\
This change is of course reflected as a varia- 1 I I I I I I i I I I I Ill
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 16
tion in counting rate. Because of the preces-
sion of the orbit during the period of observa- FIGURE 3--6. Integral primary spectrum after apply-
tion and the averaging process used, the ing the various corrections discussed in the text.
PERIOD I , I 'l II
exponents of _ 1.2 below 8.5 GV and _ 1.5 I I MAGNETIC STORM
; I SUDDEN COMMENCEMENT tI I
above this rigidity. We tentatively interpret m
132 ', II ! +', , I I ',
'I, 13E
the change in slope at _ 8.5 as indicative of l i _ i , i l
128
an upper limit to the long-term solar modu- 0
1962 I I I I I NOV If
intensity at Mount Washington had recov- FEB. I MAR. APR. MAy i JUNE I JULY I AUG. : SEPT. I OCT.
22
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
this spectrum that we can expect to obtain explosion on 9 July 1962, the most directly
at the present time is that observed at solar interpretable data being those from the G-M
minimum, when the effects of solar modula- counter. The shielding of this counter was
tion are least. This integral spectrum is not such that electrons with energies of 7.4 and
at all well known for the heavy primaries 10.5 MeV have, respectively, 10 and 50%
but has an exponent of _ 1.5 (Webber probabilities of penetration from the direc-
1962) (3). This spectrum, when combined tion of minimum shielding. The correspond-
with the present result, would indicate for the ing energy for protons is 50±5 MeV.
period May-June 1962 a rigidity dependence At the moment of the explosion the satellite
for the solar modulation process in the 2.5 to was at an altitude of 815km at latitude 52°S
8.5 GV region of the form and longitude 163°E--a distance of 7400km
from Johnston Island on roughly the same
JE:Joo [P/Po] 0.3,
geomagnetic longitude as the explosion point
where JE is the intensity at the Earth of par- but at a higher L value, namely, L=4.76 com-
ticles with rigidity greater than P, where P is pared with L=l.12.
in GV, Joo is the corresponding galactic inten-
sity, and Po _: 8.5. Delayed Increase in G.M Count Rate
Other determinations of the heavy primary
Following the explosion, a sudden increase
spectrum outside the atmosphere have been
in counting rate was observed with a delay
made by Ellis, Gottlieb & Van Allen (1954)
of 20+--5 see, which drove the G-M counter
(4) using rockets, by Pomerantz & Witten
(1962) (5) using an ionization chamber car- into saturation (Durney et al. 1962) (9). This
radiation burst lasted for about 6 minutes
ried in Explorer VII, and by Kurnosova,
and its cause has not yet been positively
Logachev, Razorenov & Fradkin (1962) (6)
identified. It is hard to account for it in
using Cerenkov counters carried in the sec-
ond and third Soviet space vehicles. These terms of either y rays or neutron-decay
electrons. A redistribution of the natural
measurements were made during 1960 when
radiation belt population by the hydromag-
solar activity was at a higher level than that
netic disturbance generated by the explosion
obtained during the present experiment.
would seem to provide a more plausible ex-
Comparison between Explorer VII and Ariel I
planation.
data show's that the flux of heavy nuclei is
dependent on the solar activity cycle in a
The Johnston Island Shell
similar way to the flux of protons in the range
of magnetic rigidity covered by these measure- Both the G-M counter and the Cerenkov
ments. The implications of these measure- detector revealed the presence of an intense
ments in relation to the structure of the electron flux on the L=l.12 shell which
interplanetary magnetic field have been dis- passes 400km above Johnston Island and in-
cussed in some detail by Elliot (1963) (7) and tersects the Earth's surface in the region of
by Quenby (1965) (8). South America (Durney et al. 1962) (9). This
high intensity shell was also observed by the
The Artificial Radiation Belt Produced by the Starfish TRAAC satellite (Pieper 1963) (10) and was
Nuclear Explosion apparently continuously fed by the decay of
r_l_ _.i-^_1 " 4_ _4-_ v._T_-_o_w_'_ o fission fragments located on the L=l.12 shell
brief summary of some of the main results at the longitude of Johnston Island. This
discussed in detail in the twopapers by shell could still be distinguished on 12 July,
Durney et al(9). three days after the explosion.
Both the Anton 302 counter and the
Injection at High L.Values
Cerenkov detector in the cosmic ray package
provided information concerning the artifi- Although the peak intensity in the long-
cial radiation belt created by the Starfish lived Starfish electron belt occurred in the
23
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INT ERNATIONAL SATELLITE
neighborhood of L----1.12, the Ariel I sensors rays and having sufficient energy to penetrate
clearly indicated the presence of some fission the shielding of the counter.
electrons as far out as Lz7 or 8. Figure 3-8 Minimum cosmic ray intensity occurs in
shows a plot of the Anton 302 counting rate the region where the geomagnetic threshold
as a function of day number. The Starfish is highest, that is, close to the magnetic
explosion took place on day 190. It is clear equator in the neighborhood of longitude
from the diagram that the lifetime of these 100°E. Thus we would expect the G-M
electrons was of the order of one day. count-rate to be at a minimum in this region
provided the satellite is well below the lower
boundary of the radiation belt. Figure 3-10
shows the count-rate plotted as a function of
longitude close to the magnetic equator and
300
for a constant altitude of 400km. The sharp
increase in counting rate in the neighborhood
ARIEL I SATELLITE t of 30°W is produced by radiation belt par-
o- ANTON 302 RATE
20C FOR 7 _ L _8 1962
. ticles where the inner boundary of the belt
x
descends below 400km over the South Atlan-
<
tic. A second, much smaller, but clearly dis-
tinguishable, peak appears in the neighbor-
8 lOC
hood of longitude 130°E close to the position
•.-'.',._._.,Vj._:,:,.';_.;':',_.;: L::,_':-;_.9..l'ff :: : -._
;d"_.. of expected cosmic ray minimum. The
dotted line shows, for comparison, the ex-
I I L I I I I I I I I pected cosmic ray count-rate as a function of
200 210 220 2JO
120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190
longitude, and below it are shown the cor-
DAY NUMBER
150
Increased Count Rates Associated with Other Nuclear
Explosions
x
so _-
Charged Particle Flux in the Equatorial Region Below
Radiation Belt i L,
When the satellite is outside the boundaries i.............L
. J.-...,........ ,.......
o
of the trapped radiation zone the G-M counter 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190
flux including both protons and heavier FIGURE 3-9. Plot of the G-M counting rate close to
nuclei. Also included in this flux are those
the magnetic equator for 1.0_-L<I.1. The
splash and re-entrant albedo particles gener- ordinate gives the number of counts per 26.9
ated in the atmosphere by the primary cosmic second intervals.
24
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
1.6
1.4
1.2
_1-c
u_
00.8
z .. EXPECTED COSMIC RAY VAR IATION 1
........ "" "''. ..ON SAME SCALE l"
_0._
............. ......... ...... ....''""
3
0.4 Ioi I ol I I I I I I I I l I I I I I
160 120 80 ° 40 ° 0 ° 40 ° 80 ° 120 ° 160 ° ]
WEST LONGITUDE EAST
1"12_
_3E 11o_
1.o8_
o .32 _ 1.14
T-06_
_.2_ 1.04__
Z L 1"00::
_.24l o.98
" i i I
25
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
COUNT
RATE
of the window varies rapidly with angle of
X 1345
incidence. Two such counters were used,
with matched characteristics, mounted at
"latitudes" (reckoned as though the spin axis
of the satellite were comparable with that of
60C
the earth) of ___45 degrees, so that the whole
sky is covered once in each revolution. Each
50( .4
I
counter is fitted with a mask that restricts
the field of view in the longitudinal direction,
40(
so that the two counters together have a field
of view which is a sector of 30-degree in-
30( --
cluded angle.
A block diagram of the circuit configura-
200 --
26
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
OUTPUT TO OUtpUT TO
HIGH SPEED ENCODER HIGH SPEED ENCODER
......... ! ° .,z
_NA_
S,GNAL
P_O_ JTER
cx, _D_ STA
!3, _UT TO
/ ....
EHT II
RESET •
I I STEP ON
I
t
I
I
I
(X-RAY BOARD 2) Ii
L__
COMMAND PULSE
PULSE SEQUENCE DIAGRAM o,
ALL 0 _ ÷6.7V CODE 5F
,_---
i ......... - -
_4-T 2 MILLUSEC
'_-10V
t
COMMAND PULSE
+ 6.7V
ALL 0 I J - 2.7V
The high-speed encoder was used to sample crease in signal amplification, resulted in
the binary outputs of all 15 scalers. For the movement of the wavelength band, initially
low-speed encoder the necessary information 4-14A, toward shorter wavelengths. In prin-
capacity was not available, so the outputs of ciple the flight data can be corrected for this
the central eight scalers were combined to shift, but this has not been done beyond the
provide an analog voltage representing the interval 6-12 May, since, though the wave-
logarithm of the stored count to base two, to length change involved is small, the move-
one significant digit only, within the range ment to.ward a region of lower detector
covered by the scalers. In addition, the dis- sensitivity, together with the rapid fall of
criminator bias level and an EHT monitor incident flux to shorter wavelengths, result
were also terminated with the monitor on in generally low counting rates. The pres-
the high-speed encoder only. ence of a fluctuating 'noise' count generated
by geomagnetically trapped particles makes
Experiment Results
evaluation of such data extremely uncer-
n_a.._-;_ o. 9 +h_ h;gh-.qno.ed data recorded tain. The available X-ray data therefore
during the first satellite pass over the Blossom are from the period 26 April to 12 May, 1962,
Point Minitrack station showed that the with an average of about four daylight hours
spectrometer was operating correctly in orbit. of data per day.
It continued to function thereafter until 1 The minimum detectable X-ray flux was
November, 1962. Subsequent detailed anal- set by the background counting rate in orbit.
ysis revealed a small calibration shift in the This was found to vary between 1 and 1.5
spectrometer, becoming apparent after 6 counts per spectrometer channel per second
May. This shift, which was due to a de- outside the radiation belts, giving X-ray flux
27
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
limits of 3.10 -4 erg cm-'-' sec -1 below 14A and Neither noise increase nor ionospheric effects
10 -_ erg cm-" sec -1 for less than 8A. The have been reported for this flare. The X-ray
solar flux soon after launch was determined to record extends from 1153 to 1202 U. T.,
be an order of magnitude above the detection covering the reported Ha maximum at 1159
limit. Thereafter it fell by a factor of 5 to U.T. The absence of records from sixteen
the 6th of May and then rose again towards flares in this period results from the satellite
the 12th of May, in general correlation with being in the Earth's shadow, from radiation
the plage, coronal green line and 2800 Mc belt interference and from periods of no
radio flux indices. This is discussed more satellite contact with a ground telemetry
fully in Reference (11) [See also (12) and station.
(13) ], where it is concluded that the major Detailed study of the X-ray flux changes
X-ray emission below 20A is derived from associated with the 11 observed flares reveal
local dense regions in the corona. It has a rather complex pattern. In general the
also been suggested [(11) and 12)] that flare X-radiation is 'harder' than the normal
these 'condensations' contributing to the spectrum but the degree of enhancement
short wavelength emission are probably hot- profiles of individual flares vary from those
ter as well, though not all authors agree with with a gradual and long-enduring increase,
this (14). measurable over the full period of the flare
The marked changes in the solar flux ob- (See figure 3-14.) to others in which the main
served concurrently with flares provide the X-ray increase occurs as a rapid 'burst' near
most interesting part of the Ariel I data. The the flash phase of the flare (See figure 3-15.)
McMath working list of flares for 1962 (15) In general both the enduring and burst-type
shows a total of 24 flares and four subflares enhancements are probably super-imposed in
in the period 26 April to 6 May. X-ray rec- a typical X-ray profile. (See figure 3-16).
ords were obtained from Ariel I during 12 In all the cases observed from Ariel I the de-
flares and in all but one a significant en- tailed temporal agreement with the flare
hancement in the 4-14A emission was ob- microwave increase was remarkable. It has
served. The exception was the importance been suggested (reference 16) that with flares
one flare of 1 May commencing at 1150 U. T. such as those of figures 3-15 and 3-16 the long
MAY I
I I I i j MAY 2
12 13 14 15 16 U.T.
2800 M c FLUX 4
(m-22WM-2CPS
-I )0[_ -- _"'_"BURST PROFILE
CORRECTED FOR
GROUND REFLECTIONS
30-
I I
I
20- !
SO LA R
X-RAY COUNTS
I0
II I ii
FIGURE 3--14. Solar flare enhancement of 12A X-rays and 2800 Mc flux, importance 1 flare of May 1, 1962
(1241-1252-14001)) and also importance 1 flare (1353-1356-1430D).
28
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
175 MAX.
The spectral development of the flare X-
radiation lends support to the concept of a
8q
dual-mechanism for the X-ray production.
_u
For example, the near constant spectral shape
observed during the development of the X-
o _ 41
ray burst of the 27 April flare (figure 3-15)
is contrasted with the gradual hardening
observed during the development of a small
enduring X-ray increase of a later flare on
the same day.
160 I I I I
A definitive explanation of flare X-rays
probably must await the high resolution
spectral studies of individual solar regions,
U
w
120 i and these should be possible in 3 or 4 years
using the stabilized vehicles such as 0S0 and
Advanced OSO. However, it is evident that
J considerable progress can be made with fur-
ther development of proven techniques of the
40 A/%....._ _.%.._./:::
Ariel I counter spectrometer type. In this
01 I [ J I respect the nature of the data from Ariel I
13.50 14.00 14110 14.20
29
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
o 175 MAX
28 CC MC SOLAR EMISSION
the high wavelength
grating spectrometers.
tween the flare radiations
resolution crystal
The comparison
and two ionospheric
indices shown in figure 3-17 illustrate
and
be-
the
,40o
,80o
further power of the low resolution spectrom-
_ (S.P.A.)
eter for detailed study of the relaxation
CYCLES/SEC
times and hence the governing electron pro-
duction and loss processes in the lower iono-
j_ 10 MC DOPPLER SHAFT (S.P.D.)
sphere.
IITEMPERATURE
Ii SIGNAL
II LOT.+
I
2__
PROBE
I L ,,OENS,T
SIGNAL
I
J
j,m ........ I
I I L.T.-
I I
_k
500 CPS 3.2 KC/SEC iI L.T.+
I
I 1
LB
SAWTOOTH
MO N ITO R
30
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
31
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
but after this, the intermittent operation of relatively energetic photo-electrons by sun-
the spacecraft and later the failure of the low light would raise the electron temperature
speed data system first reduced the flow of above the gas temperature, since the photo-
measurements and finally brought it to a electron energy would become randomized by
close. In the period April 27th-July 9th, electron-electron collisions. The relatively
nearly 51,000 measurements were received high temperature electron gas would then, by
from the boom probe, and all the ionospheric collisions with the heavier particles, commu-
studies carried out up to the time of writing nicate the photo-electron energy to the neu-
(February, 1965) have been based on these. tral gas so that it finally would be conducted
The second group of measurements was downward to lower altitudes. Hanson pre-
obtained via the high speed telemetry link dicted that this effect would be most evident
and therefore was restricted in geographical in the F1 region near the level of maximum
coverage to the areas surrounding the photo-ionization, where the elevation of the
STADAN stations of NASA and the stations temperature of the electrons above that of
operated by the D.S.I.R. However, the poor the gas might well amount to 1000°K, but
geographical coverage was offset by the long that at greater altitudes the electron tempera-
period--over 21fi, years--covered by the ob- ture should fall to the gas temperature as the
servations. It is planned to use these data energy input by photo-ionization became neg-
for the study of seasonal variations of elec- ligible.
tron temperature. The available observations seemed to sup-
port this view, as was shown in the review by
Electron Temperature Studies Prior to Ariel I Bordeau (1963) (23). It followed then that
Observational evidence of the behavior of in the altitude region covered by the Ariel I
electron temperature above the altitude of measurements, the electron and gas tempera-
the F2 maximum was rather scanty. Some tures should be essentially equal both by day
important Langmuir probe measurements and by night, and the electron temperature
were made in 1960 by Bordeau and his co- should not depend either on latitude or alti-
workers (1964) (18) on Explorer VIII; rude.
further evidence was obtained through radar
The Main Features of the Electron Temperature Dis_
back-scatter observations by Bowles et al tribution
(1962) (19) and others (Evans, 1962) (20).
The greatest amount of data came from The first analyses of the measurements
studies of the vertical distribution of the showed this picture to be incorrect since a
ionosphere, the density scale height of which strong increase of temperature with latitude
(under certain circumstances) yields the was evident, both by day and by night. It is
mean of the ion and electron temperatures. known that a similar behavior is not exhibited
For the electron temperature to be deduced by the gas temperature [See, e.g., Groves
it is at least necessary that the ionization be (1961) (24).] Thus, the electron tempera-
in diffusive equilibrium and, although depar- ture could not in general be the same as the
tures from this condition may become less gas temperature indicating that a heat source
likely at greater altitudes, it is still not known was present at altitudes from 400 km to 1200
above what altitude the condition obtains km both by day and by night. Since this
with reasonable accuracy. Moreover, accu- appeared to be more effective at high lati-
rate knowledge of the ion composition and tudes, it was at first supposed that particles,
temperature is also required, though little presumably electrons, were responsible, a
information on these was actually available. suggestion that was later found to be at least
The theoretical situation had been inves- partially incorrect.
tigated.by Hanson (1963) (21) and by Although latitude, altitude and solar time
Delgarne and his co-workers (1963) (22). vary simultaneously about one orbit, by using
Hanson suggested that the production of measurements obtained over a time compar-
32
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
(d)
1500
9-/// /
ME
...._wf / km h 10OO
¢o) 6oo 12
(c) 800 12
(d) 800 15
(e) 1200 15
(f) 1000 15
I I I I I 5001 I I I I I
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
FIGURE 3--20. Variation of electron temperature with geomagnetic latitude near noon and midnight. The
curves are for various altitudes and local times.
33
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
10C
2000
1500
O 09h I -50 o
• 12h
(a)
MAGNETIC LOCAL
LATITUDE TIME
1000
CURVE DEG. h ¼ \
(°) 40 00 ?
to) 20 12 \
(c) 1.0
20 15 >
(d) 40 12
(e) 40 15 O
500 " i I I i I I [] •
400 600 8OO 1000 1200
ALTITUDE Km
ALTITUDE (kin)
energy required to support a measured elec-
tron temperature at a measured electron den- FIGURE 3-22. Variation of Q with altitude near lati-
LATITUDE (deg)
origin of the energy. The actual magnitude
of Q at 400 km altitude and the sub-solar FIGURE 3-23. Variation of heat input near noon
point, about 100 eV/cc sec, is several times with latitude, at 500 km altitude.
34
UNITED KINGD OM EXPERIMENTS
electrons which initially are moving upwards Detailed Geographical Variation of Electron Density
will have a large range in this direction and and Temperature
so will go spiralling along the magnetic field One powerful method of studying the longi-
lines. tudinal variations of the ionosphere is to com-
It is then natural to suggest that it is these pare measurements made at a given latitude
photo-electrons which, by Coulomb collisions on successive orbits, since to a good approxi-
with the ambient electrons, are responsible mation the longitude is the only parameter
for the energy input above 600 km. An ap- to change. Figure 3-24 shows results ob-
proximate calculation shows that they will in tained in this way for electron density in
fact deposit the correct amount of energy at two magnetically very quiet periods. It will
high altitudes in this way. Thus, we can be seen that even at these times strong density
irregularities exist, and that these irregulari-
account for all the major features of the day-
ties are different in the two periods. It is
time electron temperature distribution in
possible that some of the change is due to the
terms of the photo-ionization process, and we variation of local time between the two sets
may note the following points. of measurements, but likely that changes of
1. Since positive ion collisions become in- magnetospheric structure are also effective.
creasingly less efficient at removing the Similar variations of temperature with
photo-ionization energy at great heights, we position are shown in figure 3-25. In this
may expect thermal conduction of energy in case, the effect of local time can be studied by
a downward direction in the electron gas to the statistical method used. It is found that
become important. In fact, it appears to be in addition to the patterns characteristic of
significant at least by 600 km, and probably noon and midnight, another occurs near dawn
determines the temperature increase with which will be further discussed below. In
altitude above this level. every case, the variations of temperature are
closely correlated with those of density shown
2. The temperature increase with latitude
in figure 3-24 in such a way that the regions
is not due to an increase in heat input (figure
of high density are also those of low tempera-
3-23) but to the fall in electron density which
ture. Thus, these variations are indicative
reduces the rate of energy loss by positive ion of the powerful control of the ion-electron
collisions; the geomagnetic control of tem- collision rate over the electron temperature,
perature is similarly due to the variation of since in the regions of high density the cool-
electron density. ing rate of the electron gas is also high.
Heat Input at Night. The lack of thermal The behavior of electron temperature near
equilibrium at night shows that an additional dawn is of particular interest. It was first
heat source, amounting to 0.1 eV/cc sec at shown by BordeatL and Donley (1964) (27)
800 km must also be operative. Presumably that the temperature is a maximum at dawn,
its diurnal variation is small enough to leave though it can also be seen from figure 3-26
photo-ionization as the main daytime source. that this is true only at relatively low alti-
tudes and at near-equatorial latitudes. This
The source of the night time heat is not yet
confirms the explanation of the effect given
known; it is supposed that it arises either
by Dalgarno et al, that it arises from a time
from electric fields or ;tom particles and so
lag in the vertical re-distribution of ioniza-
is of magnetospheric origin in either case.
tion at dawn (which is inhibited by the geo-
If particles are responsible they must be of magnetic field) relative to that of atomic
low energy, and some similarities of the geo- oxygen, so that the cooling rate temporarily
graphical distribution of the heat source with lags the photo-ionization heating rate. It
that of low energy electrons observed in Sput- will be noted that the local variations of tern-
nik III by Savenko, Shavrin and Pisavenko perature in the dawn period are centered on
(1963) (26) suggest that electrons of 1-2 the geomagnetic equator, which is consistent
keV energy might be involved. with the explanation given.
35
ARIEL h THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
00 I15O-J
23 200 "1
22
,214 "1
21
_200 -I
20
1150 "1
19 1100-t
1000 -_
18'
_00 -_
800 "
17-
700 -
600 -
500 -
LONGITUDE
_JUNE20, TO NORTH
L S.T. ALT. LAT N E _ 10-4 cm-3
12
900 -
_
11- 800 -
700- 20 _ 5
10-
600 -
.
09-
500 -
450 -
08-
07-
405 "
O6
05
O4 450
LONOIT(JD L
36
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
6o_ AL TIME w 07 h - 09
h
_00 ,r'-._1oo
o" -300 .... --2;.._,,z,.
_
_3 0 ,._,_. /
_" ...
-o0 I I I I I ! I I
LONG, DEG.
6O
40
(_ LOCAL TIME
NOON
O
"0
-60
-180
I
-1 40
I
-100
I
-60
I
-20
I
20
I
60
l
100
I
140 180
LONG. DEG.
60
LOCAL TIME MIDNIGHT I
C_ LOCAL TiME
MIDNIGHT _ 0 - • /
LONG. DEG.
37
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
58
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
(_ ENHANCEMENTS MAY 27
UT AT EQUATOR
02-
10(_-
40,
03-
900-
800-
20
700-
05-
G
600-
O6-
500--
20 ¸
450--
O7-
54
27
l 28 J LLT. AT EQUATOR
7 9 6,2
L.S.T, ALT. 2i9 0i7 231.0 21.41 19.7
[ 18.0j 1631 141.6 219 11 I" 3 9[6 I i
2.5
23-- 1200---!
22--
21-- 1215--J
20--
1200--,_ 4O-
19--
1150--
1100--
18--
1000--
17-- 9_
800--
2O--
16--
700--
15-
_ _ /
60O'- 4O-
14-
13- 500-
LONGITUDE
FIGURE 3--27. Variation of electron temperature and density during the magnetic storm of May 27-28th, 1962.
The light lines represent the track of the satellite on successive orbits. Whenever a significant increase of
electron density was encountered in the storm, a heavy line has been drawn on the left of the track. Where
a significant decrease of electron temperature was observed, a heavy line has been drawn on the right of
the track. Where a significant increase in temperature occurred, a double line has been drawn on the right
of the track. (The electron density data has been taken from Willmore and Henderson, 1965.)
39
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
nomena involved are of importance if the tential was adjusted to prevent electrons
results from direct measurement plasma reaching the probe. More detailed descrip-
probes are to be interpreted correctly. More- tions of the experimental technique and the
over, the moving satellite is a kind of model theory are given earlier in this section for the
experiment which may contribute to the un- electron probes, and in the succeeding section
derstanding of the interaction of the planets for the ion probe. [For further details see
and their satellites with the solar wind. An Bowen et al (29) and G.S.F.C. (17).]
attempt was, therefore, made to use the The method of analysis of the probe char-
measured ion and electron distribution near acteristics was based on that of Druyvesteyn
the Ariel I satellite in order to examine the (30) and Boyd and Twiddy (31). Briefly,
effects caused by the body on the plasma (i.e., for the electron probes the method is to de-
wake-effects and plasma oscillations). duce electron temperature from the current-
voltage characteristics by using the ratio of
The Experiment the second to first derivative (d'-'i/dv2/di/dv).
No special apparatus was provided for the Knowing the temperature and current, the
study of wake effects. The study was made electron number density can be obtained.
from data taken from the electron tempera- For the ion-probe the method is basically
ture and density boom and base probes and similar.
from the spherical ion mass spectrometer
Results
probe. Locations of these probes are shown
in figure 1-2. These data correlated with The disturbance of the electron density was
aspect and orbital data made possible the studied by the variation of the ratio of cur-
analysis of the effect of the spacecraft on its rent collected by the base probe to that of the
surrounding plasma. The electron probes boom probe with angle of attack (angle be-
(boom and base) were circular discs 2 cm. in tween the spin axis and the velocity vector).
diameter. The ion probe was a sphere 9 cm. The disturbance of the ion density was de-
in diameter surrounded by a concentric duced in a similar way by using the ion probe
spherical grid 10 cm. in diameter whose po- and the electron boom probe, assuming that
1.0 1.0
0.01 Ii
I
I
1 t _l i i _ t _ I i I I
90 30 90 150 155 90 25 90 155
4O
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
the boom probe, when not in the wake of the figure 3-29). It should be mentioned that
satellite, records the undisturbed plasma be- while the electron base probe was on the skin
havior. of the satellite, the ion probe was a distance
Studying the variations of the current col- from the surface, so that this does not indi-
lected by the two electron probes with angle cate a significant departure from quasi-
of attack, we found the wake to be depleted neutrality in the wake.
of electrons; whereas in front of the body An investigation was made of the electron
there was no build-up of electrons, at least probe characteristics, both boom and base,
not within 20% (density changes of more near the edge of the wake and elsewhere.
than 20% would certainly have been de- Special attention was given to the modula-
tected). The data used for this analysis tion depth of the probe current. From an
were selected so that the effect could not be examination of the boom probe character-
accounted to photoemission. Quantitatively istics under a wide variety of conditions, it
it was found that the decrease in electron was found that the energy distribution is
density in the wake is probably to less than Maxwellian within the accuracy of measure-
1% of the ambient density. (See figure 3- ment. This result is confirmed by the base
28). probe whenever it is in the forward direc-
Studying the variations of the ratio of ion tion. However, when the base probe is near
density to the ambient electron density (as the edge of the wake, the variation of the
modulation depth is quite different. This
difference cannot be a result of an instru-
mental failure, because it was not observed
at any other orientation. Examination of
this behavior led to the conclusion that strong
DAY 161 • plasma oscillations at a frequency of about
DAY 162 o
DAY 163 O 3 kc/sec occur near the wake.
The applicability of Boltzmann's equation
Discussion
FIGURE 3-29. angle o_ attack.
Plot of ( NN_ie ) versus
Present State of Theoretical Work. The
majority of theoretical papers published on
measured by the boom probe), we found that this subject have used methods of lineariza-
the wake is depleted of ions as well as of tion as well as particle treatment (32, 33,
electrons, but not to the same extent. (See 34) that were applied to both continuous and
41
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INT ERNATIONAL SATELLITE
rarefied plasmas. Some authors used the nu- conditions of our experiment was about
merical approach which is not restricted to 8 x 10 -4. In this respect we find a discrepancy
small objects and takes account of the influ- with the calculation. It is worth noting that
ence of the electric field of the body on the in a Black-Knight rocket flight (37) we ob-
motion of the ions. However, various sim- rained results similar to those obtained by
plifying assumptions which are made cast Ariel I.
doubt on their direct applicability to the Combining our result about the inappli-
motion of a spacecraft in the ionosphere. It cability of the Boltzmann equation in the wake
seems to us that the most applicable treat- with the fluctuations in the wake as obtained
ment is that by Al'pert et al (35). In that by the probe characteristic investigation, it
work the density distribution for both is clear that the potential in the plasma is
charged and neutral particles ahead and in fluctuating, and the mean potential and den-
the rear, as well as the potential distributio_ sity are no longer related by the Boltzmann
around spheres with reflecting and absorbing equation. It is also possible that the fact
surfaces were calculated. A rarefied plasma that the wake density does not fall to the low
(where the condition A>>R._>,_,is satisfied, A values anticipated theoretically arises from
being the m.f.p., Ro--the radius of the sphere the same cause. For even if the steady com-
and x,,--the Debye length) was assumed and portents of the electric field are insufficient to
the velocity of the sphere (V_) satisfies the deflect the ions into the wake, it is possible
condition Vr(°)>>Vs)>V_,(i)(Vr ('') and VT,") be- that the fluctuating fields might be consider-
ing the thermal velocities of the electrons and ably stronger. Taking in account the satel-
ions respectively). The effect of the earth's lite velocity and the length scale, frequencies
magnetic field was considered, although the of about 3 kc/sec, are low enough for the
effect of the electric field of the body on the field to be effective.
ions was neglected. A wake depleted of both Since we have been concerned with a
ions and electrons was found to exist in the plasma whose charged particles density is
rear hemisphere of the body and quantitative (104-10 '_)/cma the ion plasma frequency will
expressions were given for the charged par- be in the range (5-15 kc/sec). We therefore
tic!e density to be expected in the wake. The conclude that our observations show the
magnetic field was found to be insignificant existence of strong ion plasma oscillations in
in the close vicinity of the body, but signifi- the wake.
cant at further distances. The very impor-
SPHERICAL PROBE FOR MEASUREMENT OF
tant problem of the excitation of waves was ION MASS COMPOSITION AND TEMPERA-
not considered, although its importance was TURE
emphasized. Several other theoretical pa-
pers discussed this problem, but no adequate Project Scientists
theory is yet available nor has the effect of Dr. R. L. F. Boyd, University College London
this process on the wake been generally con- Dr. A. P. Willmore, University College Lon-
sidered. don
Comparison With Our Measurements.
Our results show that a wake depleted of ions Data Analysis
and electrons exists behind the satellite, while
Dr. R. L. F. Boyd, University College London
the density in front of the satellite is within
Dr. W. J. Raitt, University College London
207o of the ambient value. These results
Miss Susan Laflin, University College London
agree quantitatively with the theoretical pre-
dictions of 35 and 6.
Project Engineers
We found that the minimum electron cur-
rent to the probe when in the wake to be Dr. P. J. Bowen, University College London
about 10 -.2 its ambient value. Al'pert et al Mr. J. Blades, Pye Ltd., Cambridge
(35) obtains an expression which under the Mr. R. Nettalship, Pye Ltd., Cambridge
42
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
Dr. W. J. Raitt, University College London As soon after launch as the first digitized
data became available, it was found that
Miss Susan Laflin, University College London
peaks in the second derivative channel were
Mrs. Cleone P. Abbs, University
being obtained whose positions on the energy
The Experiment scale and widths indicated the presence chiefly
of He+ and O+ ions during the daytime and
Ariel I carried a gridded spherical Lang- He+ and H+ ions at night. An early result
muir probe biased such that the measure- (40) obtained by simply dividing the data
ments referred only to the positive ions. The into those obtained with (a) the satellite in
probe was swept in potential, the voltage sunlight representing daytime conditions and
range, sweep rate and telemetry data rate (b) the satellite in darkness representing
being such that Druyvesteyn analysis of the night-time conditions, revealed that the tran-
current-voltage curve would yield ion energy sition altitude from predominantly 0+ ions to
spectra capable of resolving the concentra- predominantly He+ ions occurred around 950
tions of hydrogen, helium and oxygen ions km. during the day, and the transition from
and yielding data on ion temperatures. The He+ to H+ ions occurred at about 1200 km. at
first and second derivatives of the current- night. These results applied to a fairly
voltage relation were obtained by onboard small sample of data taken at low latitudes
instrumentation, and these together with the over the American continent. Further re-
sults obtained when the orbit had precessed
sufficiently for low altitudes to occur in dark-
OUTER SPHERICAL GRID INNER SPHERICAL PRC_
ness indicated that at night the 0+ to He+
transition occurred at about 450 km. (41).
The detection of He+ ions confirmed the
thereotical predictions of Nicolet (42) and
greatly extended the earlier experimental
detection by Bourdeau et al. (43).
When sufficient data had been reduced
on a digital computer to give ion densities
\ _ ii / from the raw telemetered data of the first
< /i , b
I
'1q
*
/ derivative channel, a study was made of the
', \/ '.[ !!:i /'"
variation of transition altitudes with solar
zenith angle (40) (figure 3-31). Solar
zenith angle was used rather than local time
so as to make some allowance for seasonal
HEAD ELECIRONICS "'"_'''"_i
variations over the period investigated. The
/ transition altitudes were obtained from the
[
measured ion compositions at some other alti-
tude by extrapolation using the hydrostatic
equation and a sinusoidal variation of ex-
---k_-'_ _-,_nar_fnr_ with time. the maxima
FIGURE 3--30. Sectional view of mass spectrometer
probe. and minima being obtained from the COSPAR
International Reference Atmosphere correct-
ed for change in solar activity. The results
probe voltage were telemetered back to the were grouped into two latitude bands cen-
ground. A cross sectional diagram of the tered on 40°N and on the equator, the former
probe is shown in figure 3-30. The details being 10 ° wide, the latter 20 ° wide ; longitude
of construction and operation of the probe was limited to about 75°W ± 20 ° by using
are described elsewhere. (17, 38 and 39) data from only two recording stations. The
43
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
16oo
E
.2£
v
_5
Z
O 1200
O
I.U
1000
O
r_
i-
,(
= , , , ,,, , , , , , ,
j A35 o N.._45 o N
HELIUM HYDROGEN TRANSITION
t a 10 ° S ..._ 10 ° N
FIGURE 3-31. Variation of ion transition altitude with solar zenith angle.
results showed a twofold change in transition In an attempt to isolate the other factors
altitude for O+ and He+ during the day, the controlling the ion composition, a synoptic
maximum altitude occurring at zenith angles study (44) was made for two periods, one
corresponding to about 1700h. As expected when the orbit was such that apogee occurred
from the earlier work the He+-H+ transition over the equator, with local time varying from
was only observed for zenith angles approxi- 930 at the north point to 2130 at the south
mately corresponding to the period midnight point, and the other when there was a varia-
to 0600h. During the rest of the day the tion from perigee at the south point at 1000h.
hydrogen concentration was too small below to apogee at the north point at 2200h. In
apogee to be observed. The asymmetry each case the data from a number of passes
about noon, and the fact that there was some spread over a period of 4 to 5 days were used
difference in the maximum transition altitude to obtain ion composition contours uncor-
for the different latitude regions, showed that rected for change in local time and altitude.
the effect is not solely controlled by the solar Both periods showed marked geomagnetic
zenith angle. control in the N. hemisphere, and the latter
44
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
FIGURE 3-32. Smoothed ion composition contours days 151-155, 1962 (% O+ in O+ and He+ mixture).
period contained more results for the south- ure electron concentration which caused a
ern hemisphere where similar geomagnetic loss of data at voltages corresponding to the
control appeared to be occurring. Over occurrence of H+ and He+ peaks. As a re-
South America a rather confused situation sult, the only temperature results analysed
appeared, and it is not possible to be precise in any detail (45) were those obtained from
in assigning the contours. However, it ap- O+ ions for ion density greater than about
pears that a peak or possibly a ridge in the 105 cm -_. These data came from altitudes
percent O+ occurred at about 75°W 15°S below 600 km. and from local times within
of fairly limited geographic extent. (figure two hours of noon for the period of operation
3-32) of the second derivative channel. The vari-
The most striking feature in the northern ation of ion temperature with latitude for the
hemisphere for the second period was the local time period 1000h to 1200h in the longi-
increase in percent O+ with latitude in spite tude range 50°W to 150°W over a period of
of the fact that the altitude was also increas- about 20 days was investigated. It was
ing. A similar increase in percent 0+ occur- found that in spite of a large scatter the re-
red in the southern hemisphere, but this must sults showed a marked trend of increasing
be due in part at least to the decrease in temperature with latitude. At low latitudes
altitude. The percent 0+ increase in northern the mean ion temperature was close to the
latitudes strongly suggests a rising ion tem- gas teinperaturc calculated by Harris and
perature with latitude, an effect also sup- Priester (46), that is about 800°K; whereas
ported by the ion temperature measurements, at latitudes of about 40 ° the mean ion tem-
but the possibility of a change in the neutral perature was about 1600°K (figure 3-33).
gas composition cannot be excluded. The availability of real-time data only has
The study of ion temperatures from the restricted the analysis of the mass spectrom-
width of the second derivative of the probe eter data to broad general features. Never-
curve was hampered by interference from the theless work is continuing on the computer
dielectric constant experiment probe to meas- analysis of variations of ion composition with
45
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
410 400 400 450 500 550 600 Some allowance for longitude variation is
made by working in geomagnetic co-ordi-
2800J-- LOCAL TIME 10 hrs - 12hrs nates. In an initial analysis, compensation
NEUTRAL GAS TEMPERATURES I
I EPOCH DAYS 117 - 140, 1962 TEMPERATURES
(WILLMORE)(HARRIS
& PRIESTER) 1{ for the altitude variation has been made by
240C
dividing the data into two height ranges and
200(} correcting the percent 0+ to two mean levels
(600 km and 1000 km) using the hydrostatic
equation and the neutral gas temperature.
_- 1200 The feature of increase in percent O+ with
latitude is again apparent from this increased
8O(
quantity of data, and a detailed study of the
I diurnal variation of percent O+ at a given
400
I e.eo° -.I •
"
*1 ellel el • • •
" _ |
1100-
I I
• . l.ss3l",,:l
. .'101] _
.
l
,.. .i** .2 •
"I
" .
s ..J::.._n-'8
s I:; .! ;\.
I "S.'_"-' _
I i• • ".
1000. • • .-.l.:- l :_: .s • •
• _.: :: • | ,_., !,
, .. . ::! • ;; :'_J , -'. , •
• , - iJ ol _ 8 •
900- • •
•
...-i "i .i\:
• •
.
OBO
• .; _'-:'xj •
r--i
800-
C-
o
,7, 700
"r
600.
5OO
• ". ":: :i
46
UNITED KINGD OM EXPERIMENTS
ern hemisphere is not so well delineated as showed strong geomagnetic control of this
that in the northern because of lack of data parameter. Both the synoptic variation of
after about 1630h. Part of the explanation ion composition and direct ion temperature
of these differences may be attributed to the measurements indicate a marked increase in
fact that the data applied to the period be- ion temperature with latitude.
tween the vernal equinox and the summer The partial pressures of O+ and He+ are
solstice in the northern hemisphere. not in hydrostatic equilibrium in the after-
A further phenomenon of significance is noon but appear to be seriously disturbed by
revealed by a plot of values of % O+ obtained a downward flux of O+ and an upward flux of
over the period from day 117 to day 181 be- He+.
tween the hours 1200 and 1700 L.S.T. and
latitudes 10°-40 ° N. The full line in figure MEASUREMENTS OF THE SPATIAL ELEC-
3-34 shows the theoretical variation to be TRON DENSITY DISTRIBUTION BY MEANS
OF AN R. F. ELECTRON DENSITY PROBE
expected under conditions of diffusive equilib-
rium (taking T+ = 2000 K g (constant) = Project Scientist
750 Km/sec and 50%0+ at 950 Kin). The
Professor J. Sayers, University of Birming-
large scatter of the points is an indication of ham
the variability of the composition from day
to day but the trend of the %0+ to greatly Data Analysis
exceed the diffusive separation ratio is also
Miss P. Rothwell, University of Birmingham
clear. It seems, therefore, that while total
Miss B. T. Loftus, University of Birmingham
ion pressure is given by the hydrostatic equa-
tion the partial pressures of the individual Project Engineer
components at this time are not in hydro-
static equilibrium. A high altitude source Mr. d. H. Wager, University of Birmingham
of O+ leading to a downward flux of about
107 cm -2 sec -1 at 950 Km is indicated, inter- The Experiment
diffusion velocity of the O+ and He+ streams The ambient electron density along the
being around 0.1 Km sec -1 at this altitude. path of the satellite was determined by
The occurrence of this effect in the afternoon measuring the electric permittivity of the
is presumably due to the great increase in medium using a radio-frequency probing
relative concentration of neutral oxygen at signal of 10 Mc/sec and an electrode system
great heights at this time. which produced only slight radiation at this
The results on ion composition and tem- frequency. The electrodes consisted of a
perature from Ariel I may be summarized as pair of flat circular grids of fairly high trans-
follows. Measurements have shown that in parency-approximately 80%. The diam-
the altitude range from 400 to 1200 km for eter of the grids was 4 inches and they were
latitudes from 54°N to 54°S there are three supported 3 inches apart on the ends of two
predominant ions, oxygen, helium and hydro- short tubes containing inner co-axial rods
gen. The presence of He+ ions had been pre- connected to the grids. These tubes were
dicted as a theoretical possibility and some mounted on a small junction box which, in
earlier measurements of ion mass spectra turn, was fixed on the end efa boom approxi-
were in general agreement with the predic- mately 3 feet in length.
tion. The Ariel I results confirmed the broad The permittivity was measured in terms of
picture and greatly extended knowledge of the current flowing between the two elec-
the dependence of the ionic composition on trodes in response to a constant applied signal
latitude, longitude, altitude and local solar of 3 volts rms. This signal was provided by
time. The study of diurnal variations a 10 Me/see crystal controlled oscillator, the
showed that the O to He transition altitude amplitude being electronically stabilized at
varied by a factor of two and synoptic studies the above value.
47
ARIEL h THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
The electric permittivity of a medium con- the effect of the applied negative potential
taining free electrons in the presence of a is to displace the plasma electrons from the
magnetic field and subject to collisions be- immediate vicinity of the electrode. The
tween the electrons and a neutral gas has positive ions are accelerated towards the
been derived by Appleton (47). The general electrode in this region: but, because of their
Appleton expression for the permittivity is inertia, they move comparatively slowly and
complex, involving terms arising from the form a substantial positive space charge
electron collision frequency in addition to which has a screening effect on the applied
non-isotropic terms depending on the mag- probe potential. At a certain distance,
netic field. If, however, the probing fre- which is calculable when the geometry and
quency is chosen so as to be high compared other factors are known, the screening is
with the electron collision frequency and also complete. The applied probe potential does
high compared with the gyro-frequency, the not penetrate beyond this point which is, in
Appleton expression reduces approximately fact, never quite sharp : the diffuseness of the
to the following simple form : boundary being determined by the temper-
ature conditions in the plasma. In the geom-
etry which was adopted for the rf electron
probe, the application of a few volts negative
where
potential to the electrodes with respect tc
go is the permittivity of free space, space potential was sufficient to establish ar
co is the probing frequency, and ion sheath which excluded all electrons fro_
the space between the grids and from th_
N,e,m (in CGS units) are the electron fringe area around the grids in which the rJ
density, charge and mass re-
spectively. probing field was appreciable. Under thes_
conditions the effective permittivity wa_,
The permittivity of the medium determines equal to that of free space. The smal
the impedance presented by the disc elec- changes in permittivity produced by th,
trodes to the 10 Mc/sec signal and in the ab-
plasma electrons were thus measured by
sence of electron collisions this impedance is circuit which subtracted the value of the r
purely reactive. current between the grids when the latte
The r. f. current between the electrodes con-
were at space potential from the current witl
sists of two parts : the electrodes at some suitably large negativ
1. The constant vacuum displacement potential.
current ;
This presented one remaining problem i:
2. The electron current, which is pro- that space potential relative to the vehicl
portional to the electron density. was not known. Space potential could, how
This second component was selected elec- ever, be located and the ability to do so dE
tronically and amplified to give a measure of pended on the fact that if the potential on th
the electron density. Before considering
grid electrodes was made more positive tha:
how this was carried out, it is necessary to
the plasma space potential, electrons we_
discuss the effects of space charge sheaths on
accelerated in passing close to or between t_
the electrodes.
grids, and provided they did not lose an al
preciable fraction of their added energy i
Space Charge Sheaths and Electron Depletion
collisions with the gas--a few tens of co
In a classic paper on plasma probes Lang- lisions are admissible--the average popub
muir and Mort-Smith (48) showed that when tion density of electrons in the vicinity of t_
a probing electrode in an ionized gas has a grids would be less than in the undisturbe
potential which is more negative than the plasma. A maximum electron density b,
local plasma potential, the resulting current tween grids thus occurred at space potenti_
to the electrode is carried by positive ions and and this was representative of the tr_
48
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
Data Recovery
Data Stored on Magnetic Tape. From the
OSCILLATOR
10 MC/S
GENERATOR
D.C. SWEE9 L
point of view of this experiment, a vital part
of the data handling system which NASA
T
provided on board the satellite was a mag-
netic tape recorder. This was capable of
storing data from a number of experiments
REFERENCE LOCAL DATA SIGNAL for one complete orbit of the satellite and a
SIGNAL OSCILLATOR I.F. AMPLIFIER &
49
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
TABLE 3-1.
Geographic
Location
Day Time sec. Long. Lat. Alt. Time, Electron
U.T. Km. local density
5O
UNITED KINGD OM EXPERIMENTS
one of the five volumes of these data and 2. From a study of the scintillation in
represents data from about half of one orbit radio reception of satellite signals by
over the geographical locations indicated on Singleton and Lynch (52).
the right-hand margin: Each line represents 3. From whistler observations by
one data point. There were some 50,000 Crouchley and Duff (53).
observations in all. 4. From studies of ionograms from the
Direct Transmission Data. In addition to satellite Alouette I by King et al (54).
the tape recorder data system, a direct data A further unusual feature of the F2 region
link was also used. This provided access to was discovered by Appleton (55). This is
the complete electron signal throughout each the Appleton equatorial anomaly and in its
de scan for space potential, so that the cor- simplest form can be recognized as a depres-
rect operation of the experiment might be sion of the Fz ionization maximum over the
verified and the peak electron signal at space magnetic equator accompanied by peak densi-
potential observed on the recovered data. ties on each side of the equator. The effect
The amount of data available by direct trans- is very marked during the day and usually is
mission was much more limited than that by difficult to observe or is absent during the
the tape recorder, since direct data could latter half of the night. The association with
only be acquired while the satellite was within the magnetic equator and, in some cases,
telemetry range of a tracking station. symmetry about the magnetic equator indi-
cares close geomagnetic control of the anom-
Some Observational Results and "their Interpretation aly.
It has long been recognized that the F_ Mitra (56) sought to explain the Appleton
region above its maximum density shows a anomaly in terms of ionization formed at high
decay of ionization with increasing altitude levels in the Fz region over the magnetic
which does not resemble a Chapman profile. equator diffusing north and south along field
For example, Storey (49) showed that obser- lines leading to enhancement of ionization at
vations on the propagation of whistler at- lower levels on either side of the equator.
mospherics required for their interpretation Martyn (57) was the first to appreciate the
a much higher ionization density above the significance of vertical movements in deter-
F_ layer than would be expected for a simple mining the morphology of the F2 region and
Chapman layer. Storey recognized the sig- in particular of the Appleton anomaly. The
nificance of the observation that there was a idea was further developed by Lyon and
positive correlation between the occurrence Thomas (58) who observed that the after-
of whistlers and magnetic storms and con- noon enhancement of the anomaly crests
eluded that there must exist above the F_ north and south of the magnetic equator oc-
layer some source of ionization (additional curs first on the side nearest to the _eographic
to ultraviolet radiation) associated with mag- equator and the greater height of the Fe max-
netic effects. A further significant step in imum also occurs on the side nearest to the
the study of the upper ionosphere by consid- geographic equator. It is suugested that
erations based on radio wave propagation these two observations support the theory
was made by Obayachi (50). In his paper that the anomaly results from diffusion of
he suggested that high frequency radio prop- ionizatien along lines of magnetic force from
agation might take place in the outer ion- thema_netic equator. Goldbergand Schmer-
osphere along ducts formed by field aligned ling (59) have also advanced the theory of
ionization strata. Convincing experimental diffusion to explain the magnetic anomaly,
evidence for the existence of field aligned but Risbeth et al (60) conclude that diffusion
patches of ionization extending to hundreds processes alone will not account for the ob-
of kilometers was soon found as follows : served magnitude of the effect and that bulk
1. From radar soundings by Matthew vertical movements must be an important
and Dearden (51). mechanism as was pointed out by Martyn
51
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
-.}-60 °
3O
3O
_6o°
180 ° -90 0 +90 +180 °
FIGURE 3-36. World contour map of the electron density at an altitude in the region of 1100 km near local
midnight in the period 27 April to 6 May 1962 (In the unhatched region at the bottom of the map the
density probably lies between 0.75 and 1.50 (x 10 _) but there are very few data).
(57) many years earlier. Mariani (61) has region of 1100 km for conditions near local
sought to account for the effect by including midnight in the period 27 April to 6 May
a consideration of geomagnetic control in 1962. This diagram shows contour lines of
terms of the pitch angles of photo-electrons equal electron density on a wDrld map. These
produced in F_. results show the existence of two bands of
The use of satellites to carry direct measur- enhanced electron density at mid-latitudes
ing instruments to explore the upper iono- north and south of the equator. An impor-
sphere and to carry radio propagation experi- tant feature of these bands is that they do
mental equipment such as the topside sounder not follow lines of equal geographic latitude_
of Alouette opened a new chapter in the in- but the two bands show corresponding de
vestigations of the Fs region and above. partures from the parallels of longitude ir
The results now available from the Ariel such a way that their distance apart in lati.
satellite indicate the existence of regions of tude is approximately constant. Further
enhanced ionization, in the topside iono- more, a line drawn midway between the maxi
sphere, of a much more extensive and system- ma of the two bands coincides closely with th(
atic character than has been previously sup- magnetic equator. The bands of electro_
posed. The significance of the new results density enhancement are, therefore, bands o:
can be best appreciated by considering the approximately constant magnetic latitu&
distribution of electron density in sections of suggesting that the geomagnetic field play,,
constant altitude and by confining our atten- an important role in the mechanism of pro
tion to periods near midday or near midnight duction of these enhancements. The bandt
in order to avoid the added complexity of on figure 3-36 are, in fact, consistent witl
dawn or sunset conditions. Figure 3-36 il- enhancement of ionization density on a mag
lustrates such a section at an altitude in the netic shell which crosses the magnetic equa
52
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
torial planeat an altitude of 1.8 earth radii varies with latitude and longitude so that its
from the centerof the dipoleapproximation peak follows a particular magnetic shell.
to the earth'sfield. This altitudeat the mag- The L value of this shell usually lies in the
neticequatoris calledthe L value of the mag- range 1.6 to 1.9.
netic shell following the notation of McIlwain A further important feature of the en-
(62). hancement on the above magnetic shell is the
Constant altitude sections near perigee suppression of the effect in the longitude
(400 to 500 km altitude) at approximately range 60°W to 65°E of the northern hemi-
local midnight have also shown correspond- sphere and a sharp reduction of the intensity
ing bands of enhancement of electron density. of ionization east of the South Atlantic anom-
The centers of these bands are observed at aly. The result of this is that over the
higher latitudes north and south than in the Atlantic ocean both north and south of the
case of the apogee section, showing that the equator regular enhancement on the 1.8 mag-
enhancement exists in a layer whose altitude netic shell is not marked. There are, how-
16
.15
I
-- I
12
i
u i
i
O
v 1.2 ',
>-
i 1.20
I
i
u.J ,,
r'h 1.4
.03
Z '| 1.3
O
U
l,,U
__I
--/ i •
',0
i • £
l l l: I
:
I I I
i
B
!
Ii I I I
I,i 1
!
I I I I
N 20 0 20 S N 40 20 0 20S N20 0 20 40S
GEOGRAPHIC LATITUDE
FIGURE 3-37. Approximately horizontal profiles of electron density at an altitude in the region of 400 km
(perigee) and near midnight local time.
5S
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
ever, fairly intense day-to-day fluctuations shell. In this diagram the latitudes of the
and these are greatest in the region of the maxima of the enhanced regions as inter-
South Atlantic. sected at an altitude of approximately 1100
The enhancement described above is the km (apogee) during the day is shown as a
main regular feature of the topside iono- function of longitude. Contour lines of the
sphere at low- and mid-latitudes near mid- intersections of the L shells 1.22, 1.25 and
night in the period of these observations. 1.27 at the same altitude are indicated on the
Examination of individual passes reveals diagram, together with the magnetic dip
additional structure in the form of en- equator. It will be noted that enhancement
hancement on other magnetic shells. Dur- is fairly clearly defined on an L shell between
ing the day these additional enhanced regions 1.22 and 1.27 and this, of course, results in
become relatively more pronounced and this symmetry about the magnetic equator. Fig-
is also the case during the night at lower alti- ure 3-39 shows the shape of the various
tudes than those of figure 3-36. Examples magnetic shells in which enhancement of ioni-
of the additional enhanced regions in lower L zation has been found. The asymmetry be-
shells are given in the results from a few sec- tween the western and eastern sections is due
tions of the Ariel orbits shown in figure 3-37. to the fact that the first-order approximation
These are for passes near perigee and near to the actual geomagnetic field is a magnetic
local midnight for three different longitudes. dipole whose center is displaced from the
The L values, defining the magnetic shells in geographic center in the direction of India.
which the peaks are located, are noted in the The fact of magnetic shell alinement of the
diagram. By examination of a large number enhanced regions is strong evidence that the
of such records it has been found that in ad- enhancement is due to additional ionization
dition to the L=l.8 shell, enhancement of by energetic particles. The occurrence of
electron density generally occurs on two low- this ionization preferentially in particular
er magnetic shells, namely, L--1.09±0.05 and shells must be due to irregularities in the
L=1.25±0.05. Referring again to figure 3- pattern and intensity of the geomagnetic
37 the evidence for the magnetic field aline- field. Although the detailed mechanism un-
ment of the enhanced regions will be clear derlying this correlation with particular mag-
from the way in which the latitude and sep- netic shells and not with others is not under-
aration of the peaks varies with longitude so stood, the overall pattern is fairly consistent.
as to follow constant L values. This is shown For example, the suppression of the enhance-
in more detail in figure 3-38 for the L--1.25 ment on the L=l.8 shell east of the Atlantic
with a gradual recovery in the eastern hemi-
sphere suggests that trapped electrons whicln
drift eastwards are an important source of
20oNLfSL125
•
this enhancement. If these electrons are lost
out of the 1.8 shell over the South Atlantic
anomaly only weak enhancement would bE
MAG.
expected over an extended eastern range o_
0 EQ.
54
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
4O
/ 30
N 2O
4O
2O
20 ....
10
4O
FIGURE 3-39. Representation to scale of the three regions of enhancement• The shading represents the alti-
tude range over which electron density has been obtained by Ariel.
particles. It has been reported by Hess (63) and near L=2. We must therefore regard
that as a result of the 'Starfish' high-altitude enhancement of ionization in a belt aligned
nuclear explosion on 9 July, 1962, energetic in the magnetic shell L=1.25 as a natural
electrons appeared in the magnetic shell L: structure, anti it is evident that some prefer-
1._5. However, _he results now presented e ntial mechanism exists for the accumulation
indicate that some enhancement of ionization of ionizing particles in this shell. The ioni-
was present in the 1.25 shell before the Star- zation by such particles must be assumed to
fish event. Paulikas and Freden (64) have take place at altitudes not far from the Fe
also recorded energetic particles from Star- layer maximum, and enhancement in the
fish in L shells near 1.2 and 2, but they have magnetic shell in depth is the result of np-
pointed out that pre-Starfish observations by ward diffusion of the ionization substantially
Schrader et al (65) with the satellite OSO I within the magnetic shell in which it is pro-
also recorded energetic particles near L:1.2 duced.
55
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
IONIZATION PRODUCED BY A HIGH ALTI- about six times the normal level. The point
TUDE NUCLEAR EXPLOSION magnetically conjugate to the site of the ex-
The Starfish high-altitude nuclear explo- plosion is at approximately 15°S, 170°W,
sion over Johnston Island (latitude 16°N, and the orbit of Ariel passed close to this
longitude 169°W) which took place at 0900 point, being slightly to the west, approxi-
hours U. T. on 9 July, 1962, produced very mately five hours after the 'Starfish' event.
intense and short-lived ionization both locally The record of the electron density for this
and at the magnetic conjugate point to the pass is shown in figure 3-41 with the passes
site of the explosion. This ionization density
amounted to an order of magnitude increase 10JULY1962
1.0
over the normal level, but on the next pass of 0.5 f ,..,,.,_-_.._,_._._.....,..,,,_'_"_o._.._, -.o--'_,_
il l"
9 JUI_Y 1962
10JULY1962
4j
B
0.5 "_
z
0 I _ 3
I I
9JULY1962
2
2.5 __ STARFISH
£
2.0
3.0 I
IONIZATION
,
.%
7 JULY1962
1.5
0,_-- , , ,
u
°I A -w -40 -20 0
LATITUDE
+ 20 + 40
-40 -20 0 ÷ 20 + 40
of the two adjacent days for comparison.
LATITUOE The enhancements shown in figures 3-40 and
FmuaE 3-40. Comparison of the ionization density
3-41 are on approximately the same longi-
recorded over Johnston Island a few hours after tude and at L values of 1.18 and 1.10. Fur-
the explosion with the ionization density on the ther clouds of ionization were encountered
previous and following days. a few hours after the explosion near southern
apex of the satellite orbit, again on a similar
density record from the satellite on the first longitude a few degrees to the east and at an
occasion of a pass just west of Johnston Is- L value of 6.0. It thus appears that the
land, which occurred about 6x/_ hours after explosion produced an ionization cloud ex-
the Starfish event. For comparison the cor- tending over some thousands of kilometers in
responding passes are shown on the preceding altitude, from 25°N to at least 54°S latitude,
day and on the following day. The width of but very much flattened in longitude. Thi,,
this cloud of ionization was a few thousand is not unlike the form which it might b_
kilometers along the path of the satellite and anticipated the actual fireball of the explosior
the peak density was 3 x l0 s cm: :_, which is would take as it expands and then diffuse,
56
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
under the constraint of the geomagnetic field. magnetic disturbance. This correlation is il-
Further details of the Ariel data relevant to lustrated in figure 3-42, which shows the
the Starfish event have been reported by observed electron density for a series of sec-
Rothwell, Wager and Sayers (66). tions of southern apex passes of the satellite.
These passes were chosen from the data for
IONIZATION BY CORPUSCULAR RADIA- 26, 27, and 28 May, 1962, because on these
TION AT HIGH MAGNETIC LATITUDES
three days the Kp index showed a rapid rise
The inclination of the orbit of Ariel to the from 1 on the 26th to 2 + on the 27th and this
equator is 54 °, but because of the asymme- was followed by a rapid decrease to the
tries of the geomagnetic field the satellite former value on 28 May.
intersects sections of magnetic shells of high It will be noted on figure 3-42 that on 26
L value south of Australia and over northern May and 28 May the electron density was
Canada. In these regions large variations of fairly constant for all the southern apex sec-
ionization density have been recorded and tions of the orbit, but on 27 May there was a
there is a close correlation between these two-fold rise in electron density. While it is
variations and changes in the Kp index of possible to find many individual examples
1962 x A O X A O x A O x A O
MAY 26 27 28 26 27 28 26 27 28 26 27 28
KP 1- 2+ 2 - 1 - 2+ 1- 1 - 2-1 1- 1 - 3 1
32
..-.,,
7 24--
X
121
Z
o -
u
I--
/
X
E
_..1
ua 8 --
0
20°W
I I
0
I
20 °E 20°E
I
40°E 60°E
I
I I
20°l ::
I
40 °w 60 °E
I L
I
80 ° 1:: 80°E
I
100°E
t I
12001:
t
140°E
LONGITUDE
FIGURE 3-42. Individual profiles of electron density near southern apex, midday, showing the correlation
between the electron density recorded and the Kp index.
57
ARIEL h THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
12 --
U
8 --
0
O
0
v
>-
0 0
O
x c_O0 oo o
ud
r_ 0 x 0
x x O0 0 0 O0 0
Z XxXXxx
x
0 O °
XXOX Xx XxO 0
4 --
_x x x x 0
K 0
x x 0 x xx x x x 0
_J xXx x
x x Xo X x X x _tx_XxX x x
xx Xx
xxx x x_
x x xx x x x_
x o_ oo xxx
x x
x
C,
-- x x 0 x x 0
x _x O0 x x x
x x x Xx 0
x x
_xx ,4 x ;_ x
xx xJ'_O_xO x x
Xxx × x )_ x Xx xXXXxXXXX x x_xxx x ×
XxX xxx xXX
x x K _xxxxx_X x _xxxX xx x xXx xxx x
0 1 I I I I 1 I
180°W 120 60 0 60 120 180 ° E
LONGITUDE
FIGURE 3-43. Collected data from a large number of records showing the correlation of ionization density at
southern apex with the K_, index figure (9-15 June, X, Very calm period, Kp < 3: O, disturbed period,
K,, > 3).
similar to the above, the correlation between pressure, but in any case these two effects will
the electron density and the Kp index is best probably be related.
investigated on a statistical basis. The col-
lected data covering a complete band round OBSERVATIONS DURING A 'SUDDEN COM
MENCEMENT"
the globe at 54°S for a period of about one
week at the end of May, 1962, are shown in One well-defined sudden commencement oc-
figure 3-43. It will be seen that there is a curred during the period 27 April to 9 July
close correlation betwecn the electron density and this took place at 4.14 hours U. T. on 27
and the Kp index and that the largest increas- May. At this time Ariel was passing near
es in electron density for high Kp index are the southern apex at 110°E longitude where
observed in high magnetic shells of L value high L value magnetic shells are encountered.
3 to 6. Observations of the electron density Conditions were, therefore, favorable for
in the high L shellregions over northern observing corpuscular ionization and the re-
Canada for magnetically quiet and magneti- sults are shown in figure 3-44, for the day of
cally disturbed periods show only a compar- the sudden commencement (27 May) and for
atively slight correlation of electron density the two previous days and one following day
with Kp index. It is not clear why the cor- for comparison. It will be observed that on
relation should be so weak in the N. hemi- 25 and 26 May very steady conditions of ioni-
sphere, but it may be associated with the zation were observed in a band encircling the
intensity of the magnetic field which will earth at 54°S and at 440 Km. altitude: the
determine the altitude of mirror points for second of these days showing a distribution
trapped radiation. Alternatively, there may of ionization practically identical with the
be a seasonal effect connected with the dis- first. Where the band intersects high L
tortion of the magnetosphere by solar wind shells (in the range L 3 to 7) south of Aus-
58
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
MAY 1962 Km
25 1- or 0
26 1-
-7 2-
u
O
0 I'_1"_'_1 I- I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I
>-
4_ L 4.27
E2
-- L3.5_ _'_,. L7.5 27 2-5
Z
2 2 L2.7/vU.T. U._
b--
_2.2 _ 7.5 4.14
..A I t i I I I I I I I I I I I i'",'C"
¢ I I I
tl3
4-
28 1-2
2--
I t i I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I
180 ° V' 120 ° 60 ° 0 60 ° 120 ° 180 ° t:
LONGITUDE
FIGURE 3--44. The electron density near southern apex about 2 hours after a sudden commencement with the
corresponding records for the 2 previous days and the day following the s.c.
59
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
aspect data, with a cross-check from observa- The time of their occurrence is related to the
tion of the wake effect on the electron densi- roll position; and the ratio of the time inter-
ties at the U.C.L. base probe (Bowen et al, val between positive and negative pulses to
1964) (41). that between positive pulses is a linear func-
tion of aspect angle.
The Sensor The data could be sampled by the telemetry
only at fixed time intervals, so the positive
Basically, the sensor eonsists of a small pulses were fed into a simple pulse rate cir-
pyramid of four silicon solar cells at the cuit covering the range 180 rpm to 20 rpm.
eenter of a hemisphere nine centimeters in This gave an indication of the behavior of the
diameter attached to the side of the satellite. satellite in the launch and de-spin stages, and
The slits through which the sun illuminates removed an uncertainty in the number of
the cells are defined by the intersection with complete rolls between successive roll posi-
the hemisphere of a cylinder 4.5 centimeters tion readings. The positive pulses also op-
in diameter, with its axis parallel to the spin erated a phase-locked sawtooth generator.
axis. The arrangement is shown in figure The constant amplitude triangular wave com-
3-45. A central meridian plane mask sub- menced immediately after the arrival of a
divides the cells and slits so that as the satel- pulse, and was sampled by the telemetry to
lite rotates the sun will strike first a cell on give the instantaneous roll position of the sun.
the right, and then one on the left of the Finally, the positive and negative pulses re-
mask. spectively turned on and off a bistable circuit,
A short positive pulse is produeed from a producing a square wave of constant ampli-
cell on the right, and a negative pulse from tude whose mean value was a linear function
one on the left. The time between successive of aspect angle. The avexage value was
positive pulses is equal to the spin period. telemetered.
SPIN
AXIS
(z)
A- SLITS
B-INTERNALMASK
C- SOLAR CELLS
/
X
ELEVATION QUADRANT
FIGURE 3-45. Aspect sensor geometry-measured interval = PQ = 2(X_M) = 2(P_M) = 0r/2 --0).
6O
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
I I I I I 1 I
\ \\
12(
/
15(
61
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
Two ambiguities in equation (1) have to time variations. A plot of the surface men-
be resolved. tioned above shows that there is a net drift in
1. The aspect sensor is inherently incapa- the direction of increasing celestial longitude
ble of distinguishing between aspect (or right ascension) of the order of 0.25
angles above and below the satellite degree/day over the period of observations.
equator, i.e. between O° and 180°--8. A preliminary examination of possible
torques, based on the treatment by E. C.
2. The signs of fix and of (h--hx) are un-
known. Semple (1964) (69), shows that the mean
magnetic dipole moment of Ariel, estimated
The ambiguities were resolved simultane-
(17) at 200 dyne dm/gauss, is sufficient to
ously by making an independent estimate of
produce a spiral precession with a period of
the direction of the spin axis from the time of
92 days and an initial half-cone angle of the
the maximum wake effect on the base electron
order of 10 degrees. This angle will increase
temperature probe, using the data shown in
as the spin rate of the satellite decreases.
Bowen et al (1964) (29) for days 117 and
The spiral will drift in the direction of in-
142. This gave a mean value for fix and A_
creasing right ascension. Torques due to
which was sufficiently accurate to eliminate
solar radiation and aerodynamic pressures
the uncertainties.
are expected to be smaller but still significant,
The direction of the spin axis, using the attributed mainly to contributions from the
assumption of a constant direction up to day solar paddles.
190, is fl,_--50 °, A,----53 °. This corresponds
to declination --30 ° and right ascension 63 ° . Spin Rate Analysis
The corresponding "theoretical" variation of
Figure 3-47 shows the variation of spin
8 is shown in figure 3-46. There is some in-
rate with time. The rate generally decreased,
dication of a precession of the spin axis about
with a superimposed wave producing periods
this mean direction, with a cone angle of the
of increasing spin. This has been observed
order of 10 degrees.
on very few spacecraft. The forces expected
The aspect data for the period after day to have significant effects on the spin rate
190, when the Starfish nuclear explosion oc- were :
curred, show some evidence of radiation dam-
age to the sensor, but also evidence of a long- • magnetic damping
term drift in the direction of the spin axis.
If the assumption of a constant direction of • aerodynamic pressure
the spin axis is relaxed, equation (1) remains • radiation pressure
valid for any instant of time, but now 0 is the
half-angle of a cone around the earth-sun Magnetic damping was minimized by the use
line, and the spin axis lies somewhere on this of non-magnetic materials as far as possible,
cone. The variation of 0 with time can be and it was estimated (17) that the half-life
transformed into a surface in the "space" of the spin rate due to this effect be one year.
coordinates of celestial latitude, celestial lon- From the curve, the half-life appears to be
gitude and time. In principle, any line 1.5 years.
drawn on this surface in the direction of in- A number of valuable papers on the effects
creasing time would define a possible varia- of various torques on satellites has been pub-
tion of the spin axis coordinates. The value lished under the editorship of S. F. Singer
of 0 defines an upper limit to the possible ab- (1964) (70). Among these, one by W. J.
solute value of celestial latitude, and when Evans gives a clear analysis of the forces due
0----90% the celestial longitude is A.-----A-----90 °. to aerodynamic and solar radiation pressure
These conditions, plus the expectation that on a plane surface. The following analysi_
the precessional motion will not be much more is based on that of Evans, with slight changes
than one degree/day allow us to estimate the in symbols for convenience.
62
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
4O I I I I I I l
%.
""..........
oo • • o °
3O
_e oo °
%
v_
L
e°oo • • • o
oooo °
OOoooO • •
Z °°eooo
20
o o
°°o oe •
• oo
I0 I I I I I I I
100 20O 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
DAYS
63
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
o
J P _= "-/.a
x_ / c cos
64
UNITED KINGDOM EXPERIMENTS
P+a=0.86
P_0.32--0.2
.'.a_0.56±0.2
L'
I
the reflection is diffuse. <
-2O L
As for the case of aerodynamic pressure, Ioo 2O0 3OO 4OO 5OO
satellite, and expressed as a function of 0, FIGURE 3-49. Resultant total acceleration; (a) ob-
the aspect angle between the spin axis and the served and (b) calculated.
direction of the sun. The same expression
of course applies to the case of earth-emitted
Total Acceleration
and earth-reflected radiation, with appropri-
ate definitions of 0. We have converted torques due to aero-
For direct solar radiation torque, we then dynamic pressure and radiation pressure to
deduce the average per orbit by multiplying resultant spin rate aecelerations. We now
by the fraction of the orbit that is sunlit. adopt an estimate of about 1.5 years for the
For earth-emitted radiation, the torque half-life for deceleration due to magnetic
averaged round an orbit is very small. For damping. The accelerations due to these
a circular orbit the average would be exactly three forees have been summed, and are
zero. To a first approximation we therefore shown in figure 3-49 together with the ob-
neglect it. served acceleration.
Earth-reflected radiation, where it is a The aerodynamic effects were computed
maximum, acts in the opposite direction to the assuming that the spin axis was in the con-
solar radiation. Elsewhere its effective stant direction deduced for the first hundred
source is a point somewhere along the arc days, and the agreement of the calculated
between the sub-satellite point and the sub- and observed accelerations is a confirmation
solar point. We have made a rough approxi- of the essential correctness of this orienta-
mation to the average effect of this radiation tion, while the departure in phase for the
by reducing the value of the solar radiation later period is probably due to a significant
torque by one eighth. drift of the axis.
65
CHAPTER 4
67
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
LY_N-ALP,
HA
GAGE_3_ ! / ,N_RT,ABOOM/ ,SOLARPADD_
NO., /
COSM,C_¥
I JI_-I----/----_IW , /
MAss
S_CTROMETER
ANALYZER
/ _"1 .... ---/----_-'_--_W /
DELTAS
OUT'INE'E 'I',','I
D" ', \ ..... ---- W---- -,_
--
I J ' ] ' I I I I ' I ' I ' I ' 1 SOLAR PADDLE HINGE RELEASE MECHANISMS \
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 \
ANTENNA SPRING_
. --_- __ _ __ _
,_.I
• .N •• Z__ 4
"'" _ =:-i_
7< i
.'_.'I
L " i
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
INCHES
FI6URE 4-1. Ariel I before deployment; (Top) view along the Y axis, and (Bottom) view along the X axis.
The structure had to withstand accelera- material chosen for the skin of the Ariel I
tions and vibrations of the launch vehicle. was epoxy-bonded Fiberglas. The domes
In this case the ABL-X248-A5 motor (last were constructed from monofilament glass
stage) governed. fibers cross-woven into cloth laminations that
were molded into a spherical shell of 131fl-
Outer Structure
inch radius by 5,_/_ inches high. Shell Epon
As a result of the above considerations the 828 with a CL hardener was used as the bond-
68
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
.×.
assembly to be bolted to the top of the 23-
BOOM"X
1 '' inch-diameter mid-skin. Holes were cut in
'_ _ INERTIA
the dome to allow attachment of experiments
ELECTRON
and antenna mounts.
TEMPERATURE
B.OOM
Mid-Skin. The mid-skin Fiberglas was
bonded and riveted to two end flanges, ma-
IIyI " "YI" chined from AISI 6061-T6 aluminum, which
were shaped to provide nonshifting attach-
ELECTRON
DENSITY
ment to the upper structure and the shelf-
BOOM base assembly. In detail, shear lips pre-
vented radial movement, pins prevented rota-
tional displacement, and machine screws tied
the components together.
Lower Dome. The lower dome was seg-
mented and fitted with doublers for installa-
tion of sensors and the segments themselves.
"z"
Gold-plated aluminum machine screws held
these components in position.
69
A R I E L I: T H E F I R S T I N T E R N A T I O N A L S A T E L L I T E
FIGURE
4-3. Shelf and base assembly.
the satellite’s tape recorder, and the boom solar paddles required a secondary folding
escapement mechanism. The outer diameter hinge a t the outboard end of each arm.
was machined t o provide (1) a mounting sur- From this secondary hinge extended the pad-
face for the separation adapter ring, ( 2 ) a dle interface of these two arms.
mounting surface for the bottom dome seg- Inertia Booms. The inertia booms, when
ments, and (3) a key for six support struts. extended, provided a proper moment of iner-
Struts. The six struts were each machined tia ratio so t h a t the longitudinal axis re-
from solid stock in the shape of a modified mained the spin axis of the spacecraft.
“I” beam. Each strut served to support the These booms were made of thin-walled tubes
shelf and to supply the mount for a paddle of epon-bonded Fiberglas cloth rolled into
arm or experiment boom hinge. The struts cylindrical shape. Each boom was attached
were keyed to the base and, after being to the shelf by a detent-locking, spring-
fastened into position with machine screws, loaded hinge, and the outboard end of its 30
were keyed to the shelf by shrink-fit shear inches terminated in a four-inch long, 0.7-
pins. pound stainless steel weight. Both the
Appendages inertia booms and the paddles were designed
to be erected a t 52.4 rpm, thus reducing spin
The eight appendages should be considered to 36.6 rpm.
in three separate groupings : paddle arms ;
Expcrinient Booms. The sensor booms
inertia arms; and sensor, or experiment,
were supplied by the experimenters, but the
booms.
method of erection was a structural responsi-
Paddle Arms. The paddle a r m and hinge
bility. The hinge halves were machined
design was suggested by that used on Ex-
from solid stock and used a double detent lock
plorer XI1 ; however, space considerations
and a torsion-spring positive force to assure
dictated by the Scout heat shield and paddle
opening in the event of no payload spin-up.
location restrictions required by the experi-
(This consideration was true in all appendage
ments complicated the design considerably.
extension.)
The arms themselves were long slender chan-
nels machined from AIS1 7075 aluminum.
Emipem e n t
One pair of arms lead directly from their
hinges to the paddle interface; but space and Normal erection rotation speed of the ex-
positional requirements for the other pair of perimcnt booms was 76.5 rpm, which would
70
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
71
A R I E L I: T H E F I R S T I N T E R N A T I O N A L S A T E L L I T E
of the cone fit over the forward shoulder of Since the Thor-Delta can carry a heavier
the vehicle interface and was bolted t o studs payload than the Scout, the available space in
protruding from that surface. Fastened to the Dutchman cylinder was utilized t o contain
the cone itself were two 12-volt battery sup- the electronics and sensors of a vibration and
plies and an electronic release sequencer. contamination experiment. The total weight
Bonded to the cylinder of the X-248 motor of this composite was 17.0 pounds; the
were brackets and supports holding the re- Dutchman accounted for 7.3 pounds of this
lease cords and pin pullers-which, when re- total.
tracted, were to release the cords and allow
erection of the appendages. Total balanced Structural and Mechanical Performance
weight of this system was 18.3 pounds.
Within the limits of information available,
Delta Dutchman i t may be stated that the structural and
mechanical integrity of the spacecraft was
When the Ariel I was transferred to the maintained throughout the useful life of the
Thor-Delta vehicle, an adapter ring was re- satellite. The structure withstood launch and
quired to move the folded payload forward powered flight without discernible damage,
some 1 2 inches so that the petal-leaf second- and all appendages deployed, under the extra
to-third-stage separation skirt would not rigors of premature sudden de-spin, without
damage the sensor booms during stage sep- damage. Valuable data on Delta vehicle
aration. This Dutchman (Figure 4-4) was a vibration profile were obtained through the
vibration experiment placed in the Delta
Dutchman.
Premature DeXSpin
72
223-270
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
1S0 ,
PHASE
160
140
"_ 100
L
Z
E 80
6O
4O
2O
t I I I I I I I I I _ i
18h lOm 12m 14m 16m 18m 20m 22m 24m 26m 28m 30m 32m 34m
The anticipated spin rate variation with 4. The final two solar paddles and inertia
time is also marked on the graph. Apart boom
from the agreement of the initial and final The spacecraft again saw rotational ve-
values, there is very little correspondence. locity changes in Phase IV: three de-spin
The four premature events which occurred sequences occurred at the prescribed time
in Phase II are shown in the graph of figure schedules. The first of these was undoubt-
4-5. The spacecraft rotational velocity edly due to yo-yo release, and the other two
changed from 158 to 122 rpm; then to 100 de-spins may have been due to pin puller re-
rpm; then to 90 rpm, and finally to 78 rpm in lease action. The point to be emphasized is
periods of less than 0.5 second each. A care- that, if the premature erection sequences
ful correlation of moment of inertia changes ,-_4-_,_a_T_ _;_ n_Pnr the structure received
versus spin rate changes indicated premature far more serious stresses than normal erec-
erection of appendages in the following or- tion would impart. Had not the design test
der: series been as stringent as it was--and action
taken to increase margins of safety where
1. Two adjacent solar paddles and one
deemed necessary--Ariel I surely would have
inertia boom
lost at least part of her appendages during
2. An experiment boom the premature de-spins.
3. A second experiment boom As a result of post launch tests and anal-
73
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
yses, the best explanation of the premature Laboratory tests of the nylon cord under
deployment, and resulting de-spin, is that the temperature and tension indicated a separa-
nylon tie-downs and/or RTV bonded tie-down tion temperature in the range of 413°F to
fittings failed because of third stage skin 459°F with initial tension of 80 pounds.
temperatures in excess of those on which the Comparing this range with the curve of fig-
tie-down system design was based. Typical ure 4-7, it seems quite probable that the
X-248 temperature curves, on which the de- premature de-spin at approximately 100 sec-
sign was based, are shown in figure 4-6. onds was caused by the failure of tie-downs
From these curves it was determined that under unanticipated temperature extremes.
materials in the tie-down system would be
subjected to heat only slightly in excess of Vibration Experiment
300°F. This was well within the tested The Delta Dutchman was used to house the
limits of the nylon tie-down cords and the GSFC vibration experiment. This experi-
RTV bonding materials. Unfortunately this ment was added after the change in vehicles
design did not take into account the effect of necessitating the Dutchman provided room
placing a foil shroud around the third stage for additional instrumentation. Its purpose
motor to vent outgassing material away from was to monitor flight vibration data for the
the spacecraft. Prior to flight, test data ultimate purpose of establishing environ-
were unavailable, and temperatures could not mental test specifications for spacecraft
be accurately predicted. Subsequent tests launched on Delta vehicles.
on an X-258 motor with and without the foil The experiment telemetered three channels
wrapping indicated a marked increase in sur- of data from liftoff to beyond premature de-
face temperature for the foil wrapped motor. spin of the Delta 9 vehicle. The three chan-
Figure 4-7 shows the mean curve for eight nels measured the vibrations along three
temperature sensors, located as shown in the orthogonal axes of the vehicle (longitudinal,
illustration, on the surface of an X-258 motor. lateral, and lateral + 90°).
400
t300 I
o..
g
200
100
_ APPROXIMATE SENSOR
LOCATION
L l t | I I I ____
IO0 200 300 400 500 600 700
74
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
600
500
TEMPERATURE AT:
300
8-
200
100
I I I I I I
100 200 300 400 500 600
FIGURE 4-7. Mean temperature for eight sensors, foil wrapped X-258 motor.
Maximum vibration levels during first and results is given in NASA Technical Note,
second stage burning occurred at liftoff, TN D-1683.
staging, and fairing jettison with low levels
between events. The third stage motor ex- Detailed Data on Structure and Mechanical Design
hibited the normal resonant burning char- Physical measurements of the structures
acteristics for this type of motor; that is, the and mechanisms of the Ariel I payload are
tangential and longitudinal modes caused by presented as Appendix A.
acoustical cavity resonances.
A vibration summary 1rum
..... m_u" _,n__ _tTt?,Di i A t _T__XT A_TT_ _C_ATTbJ(_
75
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
TABLE 4-1.
Event
Lateral plus
Thrust Axis
I Lateral Axis 90-Degree Axis
First-Stage Ignition
T-1 0.5 0.5 0.3
Liftoff, T _-0 2.5O 1.9 0.9
Liftoff _-1 second 0.75 0.6 0.6
Main Engine Cutoff 2.0 0.3 0.4
Second-Stage Ignition
Jettison Fairing 0.25 1.0 1.0
Second-Engine Cutoff 2.25 0.3 0.3
Spinup 0.47 0.4
Blow Third-Second Stage
Separation Bolts 1.57 0.4
Third-Stage Ignition t
76
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
¢_ v-a
t_ Ocq
_°
x._
._._
"2. . . •
........ _ d
• "2.
....... eq ¢-i
77
A R I E L I: T H E F I R S T I N T E R N A T I O N A L S A T E L L I T E
the Fiberglas skins of the satellite that pro- the substrate when heated t o 250°F. Final
vided mirror-like gold surfaces with good adjustment of the d e was made by applying
adhesion and maintained the ability to with- white paint (ZnS, Silicone) over part of the
stand aerodynamic heating t o 250°F. I n ad- black paint areas.
dition, 1.5 mils of copper was required on the A third problem was t o provide adequate
cylindrical section and forward dome t o pro- temperature control for those experiments
vide a ground plane for the antennas. This which were not located centrally in the space-
problem was solved by developing the follow- craft, and whose temperatures could be ex-
ing process. First, the substrate was sand- pected to vary widely with changes in solar
ed, cleaned, and baked at 310°F for one hour. aspect. The solution of the problem was t o
Then layers of varnish, lacquer, paint, and adjust the coating patterns to minimize the
metals were applied in the following sequence temperature extremes thereby avoiding tem-
and baked a t the temperatures and for the peratures that could cause failures. As a n
time intervals indicated (See figure 4-9.) : example, for the cosmic ray experiment it
was necessary to keep the temperature of the
perspex sphere (figure 4-8, node 22) well
under 70"C, the sphere softening tempera-
ture, with sunlight incident on the forward
surfaces of the satellite. On the other hand,
when sunlight would be incident on the a f t
surfaces, the temperature of the photomulti-
plier (figure 4-8, node 19) could drop as low
as -16°C. This would be below the desired
minimum operating temperature but would
not cause failure.
Finally, there were two thermal problems
in conjunction with the launch phase. First,
the heat radiated from the inner walls of the
Delta nose fairing, followed by direct aero-
dynamic heating after fairing ejection, would
cause overheating of the thermal coatings on
the forward dome. Second, outgassing prod-
FIGURE
4-9. Thermal coatings.
ucts from the heated inner walls of the nose
fairing would condense on the spacecraft
1. Sealing varnish, 300°F for 20 minutes coatings causing a change in surface conduc-
2. Metallizing lacquer, 290°F for 30 min- tivity and an increase in the N / Z of the gold
utes surfaces. Tests simulating the launch en-
3. Silver paint, 280°F for 18 hours vironment showed that the problem could be
4. Electroplated copper, 1.5 mils avoided if the inner wall temperatures did not
5. Lacquer, 275°F for 30 minutes exceed 125°F. This was accomplished by ap-
6. Evaporated gold, opaque coating plying a n ablative compound to the external
7. Four spray coats of black silicone surfaces of the conical section of the nose
paint in longitudinal stripes, 250°F fairing to limit inner wall temperatures to
for 30 minutes. 200°F and by attaching with standoffs t o the
The lacquer was a special type developed inner wall an inner shield of Fiberglas im-
for providing a smooth, mirrorlike finish a s a pregnated with Teflon. The inner surface of
base for the evaporated gold. Sealing var- the mylar shield which viewed the satellite
nish plus repeated baking a t successively was not expected to exceed 125°F when a 3
decreasing temperatures was used to prevent sigma low trajectory was used to predict the
damage to the gold surface by outgassing of heating rates. The solution of the aerody-
78
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
namic heating problem was to delay the ejec- type test levels. Most of the time the tem-
tion of the nose fairing until the heating rate peratures ranged between 22°C and 30°C.
was sufficiently low to limit the maximum To assess the accuracy of the thermal de-
temperatures of the thermal coatings to sign the average internal power dissipation
250°F. must be known. Since this was not tele-
metered it was estimated as a fixed load of 5
Thermal Performance
watts plus the percentage time in sunlight,
Temperatures were monitored at three times the product of the maximum charging
points in the satellite. However, tempera- current to the battery, and the voltage of the
ture data have been made available for only charge regulator. Both the current and the
one of these points, the temperature of the voltage were temperature dependent, and the
University College, London, Stack @2, lo- values used correspond to the observed tem-
cated on the main shelf. These data can be peratures. The power estimates used were
used as a measure of the average temperature 11 watts at 64% sunlight and 25°C, and 13
of the satellite and are plotted in Appendix B, watts at 100% sunlight and 45°C. A com-
along with data on percentage time in sun- parison of observed temperatures at 64%
light, solar aspect, etc. and 100% sunlight with corresponding pre-
The maximum predicted temperature for dictions based on nominal design parameters
the observed range of orbital conditions was and the above power estimate is shown in
40°C. Whenever the satellite went into table 4-3. It is noted that the flight temper-
100% sunlight, the average temperatures atures were from 9°C to 16°C higher than
ranged from 42°C to 47°C. This occurred predicted. For the values shown in the table
for periods of from 4 to 10 days about four the average error is 12°C. This would cor-
times a year. During these times the tem- respond to a 17 % error in the computed heat
peratures were 2°C to 7°C above maximum flow based on nominal values or 7% greater
predicted values but remained within the than the assumed _+10% tolerances. When
10°C safety margin between flight and proto- the tabulated values are grouped according
TABLE 4-3.
May 3, 1962 64 40 13 24 11
May 25, 1962 100 34 32 42 10
June 16, 1962 64 30 13 23 10
Aug. 5, 1962 100 0 33 47 14
Aug. 21, 1962 64 0 14 23 9
Oct. 1, 1962 64 -32 10 24 14
Nov. 4, 1962 64 -25 10 26 16
Nov. 28, 1962 100 -15 31 42 11
Nov. 29, 1962 100 -15 31 45 14
Feb. 25, 1963 64 -15 12 28 16
Apr. 1, 1963 64 0 14 24 10
June 22, 1963 64 15 13 22 9
Aug. 27, 1963 64 30 13 26 13
Dec. 17, 1963 64 0 14 29 15
May 8, 1964 64 45 13 25 12
Aug. 26, 1964 64 0 14 25 11
79
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INT ERNATIONAL SATELLITE
to positive, zero, and negative solar aspects, the radiation from the high altitude explosion
the average errors are ll°C, 12°C, and 14°C, of July 9, 1962, did not cause either a sudden
respectively. Since paddle shading occurred or a gradual increase in satellite temperature.
at negative aspects only, one can conclude that Most of the degradation that might have oc-
the basic error in the thermal design was curred must have happened during the first
ll°C or 12°C and that an additional 2°C or few days. This is consistent with data from
3°C can be attributed to error in the analysis ground tests with UV radiation. With sam-
of paddle shading. The basic error can be ples of white paint and of evaporated metals,
attributed primarily to error in the measure- for which there is some evidence of surface
ments of the optical properties of the thermal contamination, the degradation is very rapid
coatings and to changes in these properties for the first few days and then tends to level
prior to or after launch. Because of im- off. The causes of surface contamination
provements in measurement techniques since have not yet been evaluated. Possible sus-
Ariel I, 6% of the 17% total error can be pects are contaminants in the application
attributed to errors in measurement of the process, diffusion pump oil from thermal-
absorptance of the black paint and of the vacuum tests, and the use of protective coat-
emittance of both the black and white paints. ings.
The remaining 11% error can be attributed
to increased absorptance due to degradation ELECTRONIC SYSTEM
of the white paint and the evaporated gold. J. Turkiewicz
Increased absorptances either from 0.25 to
0.45 for white paint or from 0.25 to 0.30 for The major functions of the electronics sup-
gold would account for the 11% error. plied by the Goddard Space Flight Center
A gradual degradation of the coatings is were to provide power to all spacecraft sys-
not apparent in the temperature data. Even tems, process and store data from the U.K.
.J ONE-YEAR J I
TRANSM TTER _ TIMER
POWER | J _ TRANSMITTER
II
POWERTOAL C'RCU'TS
| I RECE, ER
T , ;
SUBSYSTEM RECORDER
8O
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
oscillator circuits serially under control of high-speed encoder output; the programmer
synchronizing and gating signals from the switched transmitter input from high-speed
encoder. These signals were generated by to low-speed data; and the stored data were
two electronic commutators in the encoder, transmitted to the ground station. After re-
one high-speed and one low-speed, operating corded data were transmitted the program-
simultaneously. (Low-speed data were stored mer switched the recorder back to record
on the tape recorder while high-speed data mode and restored the real-time input to the
were being transmitted. ) Figure 4-12 shows transmitter.
81
ARIEL I: THE FIRST IN TERNATIONAL SATELLITE
Power to the transmitter was provided The low-speed encoder sequence consisted of
through a timer designed to cut off the trans- two 15-channel frames.
mitter after one year of operation. (Fortu- The block diagram of figure 4-15 shows the
nately, this timer failed to operate allowing major functional elements of the encoder and
more data to be collected.) The transmitter their relationship to the experiments and
relayed all data to ground stations via the an- other spacecraft system elements. The pri-
tenna system. Transmitter output format is mary encoder element is a crystal-controlled
shown in figure 4-13. clock, the crystal frequency of which is
divided to produce a 50-cps signal for the
high speed (HS) encoder data rate. The 50
cps is divided by 48 to produce the low speed
(LS) encoder data rate of 50/48 cps.
COMMAND SIGNAL- /-2 MIN. TAPE RECORDER PLAYBACK Operation of the HS encoder was made
independent of the operation of the LS en-
coder for increased reliability. However, a
loose type of synchronization between the two
J 2 SPE
ENCODE.
O LF SJDEN ODER
L encoders was provided, synchronization being
achieved when both encoders start their
TELEMETRY PROGRAM
CHANNEL
II T,_ AI Era,
ENCODER 12
Us A_ Em_
13
H. White P P,, P
L4 I_ X_ X2
82
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
TABLE 4-4.
Nomencla- Nomencla-
Experiment ture of Each Experiment ture of Each"
Output Output
83
A R I E L I: T H E F I R S T I N T E R N A T I O N A L S A T E L L I T E
r--------
ENCODER
-- -- 1 I- - - - --- -- - - - 7
ENCODER INPUT GATES
UK-I CLOCK S Y S T E M
SYNC - I UNIVERSITY C O L L E G E . L O N D O N . I
PULSES U N I V E R S I T Y COLLEGE. 7 OSCILLATORS A N 0 INPUT GATES
I I
r LONDON, E X P E R I M E N T S
INPUT
23
I
!
ANALOG
1 5 DIGITAL
I O ANALOG
HIGH S P E E D INPUTS
HIGH S P E E D INPUTS
LOW S P E E D INPUTS 7 II
I DIGITAL OSCILLATOR
SPEED AND L O W SPEED
I
IMPERIAL COLLEGE
OSCILLATORS AND I N P U T GATES
HIGH SPEED -..--^...-..I^
MATRIX A N 0
COUNTDOWN
I
I
I SlnL
PULSE 5
U N l V E R S l T I OF
BIUMINGHAM EX1’ L R I M F N T S
l N P u l ~_ _/ l ~ ~ -
OSCILLATORS A N D INPUT GATES
8 ANALOG HIGH SPEED INPUTS
B ANALOG LOW SPEED INPUTS ~
SYNC
GENERATOR I
I
HIGH S P E E D O S C I L L A T O R S OUT
84
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
'L'''0'Ji q LS
BLA""
I I OATE
T I ['R
, I'N'N0'OR_HO'V'D_
B_'I '_O:'q BO"ER
H /
, '11 I
-_TRANSMITTER
, ]
IW
_ ::22F
I ,.o-..T,.iNO
_ i _E,..Y
I INC..___
I GENERATOR J +15 volts PLAYBACK TO RECORD
]'(,BACKUP
_---TAPE RECORDER)
TIMER FOR | I OPEl[ATE _I NOO l
C,RCO,T
I I RELAY2 J
ENO OF PLAYBACK
CONTROL BIAS
DATA
85
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
er is played back at 48 times record formance can be made. There are logical
speed and is applied through HS arguments that the periodic appearance of
mixer to transmitter. 320 cps modulation on the received telemetry
e. Output of 160-second timer inhibits signal for relatively long periods of time could
the HS data gate, preventing the have been caused by intermittent failure of
transmission of HS data while LS one or more of the programmer circuits.
data are transmitted. The 160- However, attempts to reproduce this failure
second timer is also used as a back- in the laboratory by varying environmental
up device to the playback timer in parameters were inconclusive. It can only
the tape recorder. be stated that all programmer circuits op-
f. The end of the 160-second timer erated satisfactorily prior to the Starfish
signal opens the HS data gate and event, after which there may have been an
energizes relay 2. intermittent circuit failure.
g.
Output of relay 2 switches tape re-
TAPE RECORDER
corder from playback to record.
h. The end-of-playback signal from P. T. Cole
tape recorder inhibits the 160-sec-
The magnetic tape recorder was designe(
ond timer for the tape recorder
with the following characteristics:
only if the recorder switches auto-
Tape Speed
matically from playback to record.
Record Mode---0.25 ips
3. End of playback cycle :
Playback Modeh12 ips
a. Programmer is returned to the
Power Consumption (Over temp. range o:
condition outlined in 1 above.
--20°C to q-30°C)
At the end of the two seconds of 320.83 cps
Record Mode--0.5W
the programmer (1) switched the tape re-
Playback Mode--0.75W
corder from record to playback simultaneous-
Flutter--1% p-p from dc to 200 cps
ly shifting the tape speed to 48 times its
Dynamic Signal-to-Noise Ratio_30 db (min.:
record speed, and (2) connected the transmit-
A functional block diagram of the recorde:
ter to the tape recorder.
is shown in figure 4-18. The recorder uti
Transmission of tape recorder playback
for a period of 125 to 134 seconds was con-
trolled by a timer in the tape recorder. This
period of time was sufficient to play back all
stored data. This included a 15.4-kc pulse,
approximately 42 milliseconds long, which is
the playback of the two seconds of the 320.83
cps signal recorded immediately prior to tape
recorder playback. This pulse indicated the
end of LS encoder data and also served as a
time reference for correcting data from both
encoders.
The programmer circuits were packaged on FIGURe 4--18. Tape recorder functional block di;
gram.
two printed circuit cards. Card No. 1 con-
tained the high- and low-speed encoder signal
chains. Card No. 2 contained those circuits lized a continuous loop tape to record al
associated with the command signal and re- playback low-speed encoder data. It operat,
corder control. All circuits were solid state under control of programmer circuits whic
to meet space, weight, and reliability con- in turn, were responsive to commands r
straints. ceived via the command receiver. Low-spe_
No clear-cut analysis of programmer per- encoder data were recorded at 0.25 ips al
86
SATELLITE STRUCTURE A N D SUBSYSTEMS
FIGURE
4-19. Tape recorder with cover removed.
played back at 12 ips, making the modulation is separately packaged on a printed circuit
frequency range of the low-speed data the card as shown in figure 4-20.
same as that of high-speed data. The tape recorder performed reliably from
The physical configuration of the recorder launch to the end of July 1962, a t which time
is shown in figure 4-19. It is packaged in a it failed. The exact nature and cause of its
cylindrical configuration with a mounting failure cannot be determined. Although this
plate approximately midway across the cylin- failure occurred shortly after the Starfish
drical envelope. On one side of the mounting event, there is no clear-cut evidence relating
plate are the drive motor and drive mech- failure to irradiation of any of its compo-
anism along with recorder electronics. On nents. The failure became manifest when
the other side the tape reel tension arms and command trial produced no playback, how-
heads are mounted. The d-c control circuit ever, the background noise of the recorder
Lu
Ln
I
v
1
2
motor was evident, indicating that the motor
was still operative. Further analysis indi-
cates that the motor, playback amplifier, and
“back-up” record mode timer remained oper-
ative throughout the useful life of the satel-
lite.
’f
0
FIGURE
4-20. Direct current control circuit card.
87
This device was designed to remove power
from the tape recorder in case of motor stall.
If the motor current drain exceeded 300 mil-
liamperes f o r more than 70 seconds, the
power to the tape recorder would be removed.
This circuit was reset each time a playback
command was received. This circuit was
A R I E L I: T H E F I R S T I N T E R N A T I O N A L S A T E L L I T E
1 HOUSING
FIGURE
4-21 Transmitter packaging.
88
SATELLITE S T R U C T U R E AND SUBSYSTEMS
89
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTER NATIONAL SATELLITE
tion effects. The last interrogation, how- eludes a coaxial hybrid power divider, coaxial
ever, did indicate the sensitivity was sufficient phasing lines, and a canted turnstile antenna.
for normal network operations. The hybrid power divider and filter provide
about 20-decibel isolation between the com-
ONE.YEAR TIMER mand receiver and the transmitter. The an-
J. Schaffert tennas are driven from the base, each pair
A one-year timer (figure 4-23) was incor- acting as a dipole, with the dipole pairs in
phase quadrature. Radiation in the plane of
porated in the spacecraft to remove power
the turnstile is essentially linear, while cir-
cular polarization is obtained along the spin
J
, ; ............ _ r ............. , • ....... N-El ....... /
axis. The total power radiated varies with
satellite aspect from _-2 to --4 decibels rela-
TIMER SWITCH I_ tive to an isotropic radiator. Spacecraft
commands are received through the same an-
tenna system and have about the same pat-
tern, but see an additional two decibel loss
because of mismatch at the command fre-
I I I I i quency.
0 1 2 3 4 Antenna system performance was satisfac-
INCHES tory and in accordance with design character-
istics throughout the life of the satellite.
The characteristic variations in radiated
power with changing aspect proved very use-
FIGURE 4--23. One-year timer. ful in obtaining a reasonably accurate esti-
mate of spin rate after the spin rate sensor
from the transmitter at the end of one year. failed. This was accomplished by establish-
Two timers were used in a parallel redundant ing a correlation between spin rate data
hookup. The timers employed an electro- before failure and recorded receiver agc
chemical de-plating process having a timing voltages. Having established such a correla-
accuracy of ±10 percent. tion, spin rate could be estimated from agc
This type of timer appeared to be ideal curves taken after spin rate failure.
for long term, low accuracy, timing applica- POWER SYSTEM
tions because of its simplicity and small F. C. Yagerhofer
weight and space requirements. Fortuitous-
Power to the spacecraft electronics was
ly, the timer failed, and useful data were col-
lected over a period of approximately two and provided by a solar cell array and two battery
packs. Power control and regulator circuits
one-half years.
include a shunt voltage limiter, a battery
There is no specific information from the
charging current limiter, a battery switching
spacecraft to indicate the reason for the fail-
network, an undervoltage detector, a hold-off
ure. However, subsequent tests indicate that
relay and turn-on plug, and several de-to-de
timing action probably ceased because of
converters.
electrolyte leakage, which effectively shunted
The functional relationships among the
the polarizing current. As a result of its
major elements are shown in the block dia-
performance on the spacecraft and the subse-
gram of figure 4-24. A brief description of
quent tests, this timer is not considered ade-
each of the major components is given in the
quate for long-term applications.
following paragraphs.
RF ANTENNAS
Solar Cell Array L. Slifer
J. K. Steekel The solar cell array consists of four solar
The Ariel I spacecraft antenna system in- paddles (figure 4-25) arranged in a series-
9O
-
S A T E L L I T E S T R U C T U R E A N D SUBSYSTEMS
SOLAR
ARRAY , CURRENT
LIMITER
SWITCHING
NETWORK
CONVERTERS
(4)
I I 1
I
I
I
v
3
I
SHUNT
SHUNT BATTERY BATTERY
UNDERVOLTAGE
VOLTAGE A B
DETECTOR
LIMITER
FIGURE
4-24. Power system functional diagram.
parallel matrix. It furnished 0.5 to 2 am- aspect to the sun and radiation degradation.
peres at 15 volts, depending on the spacecraft The solar cells a r e p-on-n type silicon cells
that perform as photoelectric converters.
The cells a r e flat mounted, of gridded con-
struction, and exhibit a high efficiency.
While the spacecraft is orbiting in sunlight,
the solar cells power all electronic subsystems
on board the spacecraft and supply a charging
current to the two battery packs.
91
~~ ~
A R I E L I: T H E F I R S T I N T E R N A T I O N A L S A T E L L I T E
OJ
FIGURE
4-26. Battery current regulator.
92
SATELLITE STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS
5-
4-
m 3-
I
U
I: -
1-
OJ
ENCODER CONVFRTIR
:.- 1 CONVERTER
FIGURE
4-29. De to dc converter cards.
receiver, programmer, encoder converter, and imately 50 percent. This converter is dis-
U.K. converter. connected from batteries only when the hold-
The encoder power converter furnishes the Off is actuated.
+1.9, -4.0, -6.2, -2.7, and +6.7 volts t o the
encoder. The -2.7 volts is regulated to 0.25 Pre,Launch Power Control
percent ; all the remaining voltages are regu-
lated t o 5 percent. This converter has an
A turn-on plug and a hold-off relay were
provided to control the application of power
efficiency of about 30 percent.
to spacecraft systems during ground oper-
The U.K. converter supplies all power to ations. The turn-on plug is a bridging con-
the experiments. The output voltages are nector which opened battery circuits when
+6.5, f15, and -6.5 volts-all a t -t5 per- removed. Blockhouse control for turning
cent; -9.0 volts a t + l o percent; 12 volts a t the spacecraft power system on and off with
-- norcont.
+R r------.., -1-5 T T S ! ~ at
~ p e y e c t ; zr,d ihe iurri-uii p l u g irisiaiied iri iiie spacecrali
24 volts a t _t8 percent. The overall efficiency was effected by de-energizing and energizing
is about 60 percent. the hold-off relay, respectively, from the
The undervoltage detector circuit convert- blockhouse. When the spacecraft was
e r is connected to the main power line; this launched, the hold-off relay was in its de-
converter furnished +15 and -18 volts, both energized state, thereby connecting the bat-
at -t5 percent and a t a n efficiency of approx- tery system to operate the spacecraft.
93
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
TABLE 4 4.
Solar Array Power, Loads, and Degradation
Allow- Allow-
able able
Angle Power Power Degra- Power Degra-
(Degrees) (Watts) (Watts) dation (Watts) dation
(%) (%)
94
SATELLITE STRUCT URE AND SUBSYSTEMS
redundancy within each cell group) be- its original design characteristics. Its suc-
tween solar cells were used. cessful operation provided rigorous proof of
c. Shallow-diffused ("blue," "blue-shift- some design techniques and material.
ed" )gridded solar cells were used. The undervoltage detector and its associ-
d. Silicone base bonding materials for both ated recycle timer were thoroughly proven by
solar cells and cover glasses were used. the frequent undervoltage conditions. These
Each of these features was a significant circuits, originally designed to operate only
development in reliability and/or efficiency in an emergency, have operated reliably for
for solar arrays. Each has become standard more than 250 cycles at the time of this
practice and is used in the design of almost all analysis.
solar arrays.
ORBITAL INJECTION PROGRAMMER
Power System Performance F.C. Yagerhofer
J. Schaffert
The power system performed satisfactorily
throughout the useful life of the satellite. The orbital injection programmer was a
Unfortunately, because of the limitations of battery-operated electronic timing system.
spacecraft design, there were not enough Its function was to program the events as-
power system housekeeping data, such as in- sociated with the ignition and selSaration of
ternal and external battery temperatures and the third stage. The functional block dia-
voltage and current measurements, to make a gram of figure 4-30 illustrates the operation
detailed analysis of performance throughout of the programmer with respect to these
the life of the satellite. However, the fact events. At the time of third-stage motor
that the spacecraft transmitted intelligible ignition (to), two pressure switches provided
scientific data intermittently over a period of signals to start a 900-second timer. At the
approximately two and one-half years is end of this timing period two pulses were
reasonable proof of satisfactory operation. applied to the silicon-controlled rectifier cir-
In summary, it is felt that the power sys- cuit, which in turn fired one pair of squibs.
tem operated satisfactorily, well in excess of This time is designated tl. The tl output from
3ROSTAGEMON,,ORIToJ
9® I-J SECOND SECOND SECOND
IGNITION PRESSURE _ SECOND
TIMER NO.1 TIMER NO, 2 TIMER NO. 3
pW,TCHES' I I T'MERII I
DESPIN I
t 1 - t o 900 SEC
BOOM
t 2 - t O 960 SEC
RELEASE
t 3 - t O 1020 SEC
t 4 - t o 1080 SEC
T3
SC RELEASE
SEPERATION ]
95
A R I E L I: T H E F I R S T I N T E R N A T I O N A L S A T E L L I T E
(6) 6 0 - S E C O N D TIMER
(C\ 930-SECOND TIMER
FIGURE
4-31. Orbital injection programmer.
I 96
CHAPTER 5
97
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
tinually update the orbit. A total of 3372 shown, those periods during which the satel-
tracking messages were received during the lite was tracked and data acquired can be
active lifetime of the satellite. The following determined.
STADAN stations were responsible for
tracking the Ariel I spacecraft. Data Acquisition
Antofagasta, Chile, S.A.* The Ariel I spacecraft utilized a PFM/PM
Blossom Point, Md., U.S.A. telemetry system operating at 136.410 Mc/s
Lima, Peru, S.A. and a power output of 250 milliwatts. In
Quito, Ecuador, S.A. this system, the analog or digital measure-
Johannesburg, South Africa ment data from a given experiment fre-
Woomera, Australia quency-modulated a subcarrier oscillator.
Fort Myers, Fla., U.S.A. This subcarrier oscillator phase-modulated
St. Johns, Newfoundland the rf carrier ±50 degrees. The subcarrier
East Grand Forks, Minnesota, U.S.A. oscillators operated in the 5 to 15 Kc. range.
Winkfield, England Upon command from the ground, playback
These stations are shown on the map of data from an on-board tape recorder were
Figure 5-1. The circles around each sta- transmitted at a speed of 48 times the record-
tion indicate the approximate effective area ing rate. These data were normally obtained
covered by each station. Thus if a given near the point of closest approach to the re-
orbit path is superimposed on the map as ceiving station. Signal levels obtained at the
STADAN stations ranged roughly between
*This station was relieved of operation in August,
1963.
--80 dbm and --145 dbm with the average
75
6O
3O
3O
6O
150 180
150 120 9O 60 30 0 30 60 90 120
98
TRACKING AND DATA ACQUISITION
AMPLIFIER
RECORD TAPE
] MAGNETIC
OUTPUT RECORDER
CONVERTER
62 kc DIRECT #3
RECORD
AMPLIFIER
DIRECT 15
RECORD
AMPLIFIER
OUTPUT
CONVERTER
MONITOR
62 kc I INPUT- OUTPUT ]
136.410 Mc
3rd IF 2nd IF
BW - 100 kc DIRECT #4
BW - 0 kc RECORD
AMPLIFIER
WWV
RECEIVER MINITRACK
TIME
STANDARD
RACK
AMPLIFIER
RECORD J
DETECTED COMMAND TONE
DIRECT 17
AUDIO
RECORD
TRANSMITTER DETECTOR AMPLIFIER
I COMMAND [_ CRYSTAL AMPLIFIER
j_) VOICE
MIKE
99
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
Record
Track Amplifier Source Signal
7. Magnetic tape recorder tape speeds after and playback commands were stopped
FR-600--15 in/sec. at all stations except Blossom Point and East
FR-100--71/,_ in/sec. Grand Forks on August 18, 1962. After it
The spacecraft operated normally after was determined that no playback data were
launch for a period of about three months. being received, all stations were relieved of
As much real-time data as possible was being command responsibility on September 8,
recorded according to station availability and 1962. Throughout the duration of the satel-
the spacecraft priority schedule. With the lite life, operation was intermittent until all
exception of about one orbit per day, the re- tracking, command, and data acquisition
quirement for playback data once/orbit was support was temporarily dropped on July 1,
achieved. This represents roughly 93% suc- 1964. Ariel I support was again resumed on
cess in obtaining playback data. August 26, 1964 after the launch of the IE-A
On July 12, 1962, the satellite turned off be- (1964-51A) spacecraft on August 25, 1964.
cause of a malfunction in the spacecraft. For two months, Ariel I and IE-A recorded
This resulted from degradation of the solar similar data until all support was finally
cells and other semiconductors by high energy terminated on November 9, 1964 at the re-
electrons in the artificial radiation belt pro- quest of the Ariel I Project Office.
duced prior to this date. Since that time, During the active life of the spacecraft, a
intermittent turn-offs were observed reducing total of 11,910 tapes were received from the
the amount of data acquired per unit time to STADAN, South Atlantic, and Singapore
one-third of that expected. The tape re- stations representing over 2000 hours of real-
corder system ceased operation shortly there- time telemetry data.
100
CHAPTER 6
Data Processing
Processing of Ariel I data consisted of six design and writing of digitizing and quality
major steps, as shown in figure 6-1. Of control programs and the management of the
these six, the first three were the responsi- GSFC data processing system were done by
bility of the Data Systems Division of the the Data Processing Branch.
Goddard Space Flight Center, and the second In the U.K. the initial computer operations
three were performed by various groups were centralized under the Space Research
within the United Kingdom. Management Unit (SRMU). The Space
The sharing of responsibility between Department of the Royal Aircraft Establish-
GSFC, for digitizing, and the U.K. for digital ment (RAE) undertook the preparation of
computer reductions and analysis, imposed a the main computer programs.
new set of difficulties on an art not then well
developed. Specifically, a close coordination NASA/GSFC PROCESSING
between the digitizing and subsequent proc- C. M. Stout
esses was sought. Since, in this case, the two C. J. Creveling
stages would be separated by 4000 miles, ex-
Collection,
Collationand Evaluation of
ceptional care was exercised to insure that
Analog Tapes
the digitized tapes shipped to England were
correct. Although this was costly, in prac- Inputsto data processingconsistedof mag-
tice it worked very well and the data were netictapes of the detectedtelemetry signal
reduced with very little reprocessing. The from STADAN, South Atlanticand Singa-
COLLATE &
ANALOG
TAPES
QUALITY
INDEX TO
1coNveRT
1i DATA
CORRELATION
EVALUATE TO DIGITAL PRODUCE _" EXPERIMENT ANO
ANALOG BUFFER DELIVERABLE ANALYSIS
TAPES TAPES TAPES J i Ei_ M MUTATI: J_ !OIGTIN EER I N G_
101
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
Type of
Track Recording Track Content
Magnetic tape recorder speeds depended upon From these cards a periodic listing (figure
the type recorder available at the ground 6-2), which was updated to account for all
data acquisition station, being generally at tapes received, was generated. Most analog
71/_ inches per second (Ampex FR 600; the tapes contained multiple passes, resulting in
Ampex FR-100 recording at 15 in/sec). multiple cards per tape. Separate cards
Upon arrival from tracking stations tapes were also prepared for the low-speed data
were logged into a tape library and a punched (i.e. satellite tape recorded data) which were
card prepared for each file. (A file is defined recorded on the same tape as the high speed
as a satellite pass over a given station.) data. As each file completed the various
TAPE DATE PASS INTERNATIONAL START STOP MIN DATE DATE CARD
SAT STA NO YR/MO/DA NO CODE TIME TIME DATA REC'D QUAL EVAL NO.
$51 GFO 0001 620426 0001 62 15 193315 194915 011 20430 AI 20503 I
- $51- MOJ - 0001 -- 620426 -- 0001 -- 62 _ 15 -- --193317-194646-010- 20427--BI--20428 I--
- 551- BPO - 0001 _ 620426 -- 0001 --62 -- 15 -- --193914-195143-008- 20427--C2--20427--2--
- $51- FTM -0001 -- 620426 --0001 --62 _ 15--1 --194348-195530-012-20427--C2--20427--I--
--551- LIM -0001 -- 620426 --0001 --62 -- 15--: --195304-200157-009-20509 I--
- S51-AGA- 0001 -- 620426 -- 0001 --62 -- 15 --' --200146-200740-006- 20508--AI--20510 --I --
_$51- JOB -0001 -- 620426 -- 0001 --62 _ 15 --' --202155-2031_0--009-20430 I
--S51-SNP -0001-- 620426 000f--62 --15 --' --203610-210010 -024-20501 -- ./..,,_0428 1 --
_-,,,_l-MOJ_I33--_2_26--0002--_2 --15 --' -211_-_'_oQ-015-20426"_ " "_ 2_
'I 5 --_nq0 _
102
DATA PROCESSING
stages of the processing cycle, the dates of Network Operations and Engineering Divi-
same were punched in the card, providing a sion. However, if gross discrepancies were
consolidated input for accounting purposes. discovered, this information was relayed the
A representative sample of the analog same day to pertinent personnel within that
tapes was evaluated for quality of ground division.
station data acquisition and recording tech-
nique, quality of signal, determination of low- Analog-To-Digital Conversion
speed and high-speed encoded telemetry re-
cordings, and the presence o£ time and com- Conversion from analog to digital tapes
mand tones. A total of 56 percent of the was accomplished by means of the Satellite
tapes received were evaluated. The tape Telemetry Automatic Reduction System
evaluation process consisted of the following (STARS). This equipment and its develop-
major steps : ment are described in detail in this chapter
1. A check as to whether or not each of under "Data Processing Equipment Develop-
the tape tracks contained the proper informa- ment." It utilized the following functional
tion and to see that the station logs accom- elements :
panying each tape were properly prepared. analog tape unit,
2. Paper recordings of the three time time decoder,
tracks (i.e. Binary Coded Time (BCD), tone-burst signal converter,
Serial Decimal Time (SDR), and WWV) comb filter,
were compared for consistency and accuracy. digitizer,
3. The PFM data as displayed on an computer format control buffer, and
oscilloscope were observed. digital tape unit.
The analog tape unit played back the signal
4. Paper recordings were made of the
in the same form and without distortion as
AGC level.
recorded. The time decoder decoded either
Where anomalies existed an attempt was the serial decimal (SD) or binary coded deci-
made to determine the cause, or at least deter- mal (BCD) time and provided the correct
mine whether or not they were caused by time to the computer format control buffer
improper operation of ground equipment. coincident with frame synch recognition.
Since the aim of the tape evaluation oper- The comb filter is a sharp, narrow-band fre-
ation was to ensure proper station telemetry quency separator that resolves frequencies
data acquisition and recording and to prevent from 4.5 kc to 15.4 kc in about 100 cps steps.
repetitive or continuing errors, rapid re- A later model operating at 4x speed covered
sponse was desirable. On the other hand, 20 to 60 kc in 400 cps steps. The comb filter
since chronological processing of data was has 128 tuned crystal filters spaced across the
required by the experimenter, a time lag to used frequency band. Each filter element
permit the incoming tapes from various sta- drives a threshold detector and trigger cir-
tions to be assembled in near chronological cuit. During the time interval when a tone
order was needed. The scheduling proce- burst is applied to the filter bank, one of the
dure, shown in block diagram form in figure threshold detectors is activated and the in-
6-3, shows how this problem was resolved formation is nro.s_nt_d tn _;lh_q,,_n+ ,t;,._
with tape evaluation being performed on a tizingequipment. The digitizer transfers the
two-day cycle with digitization of the tapes digital value of each comb filter to the com-
awaiting three weeks' and one week's worth puter format control buffer where a sequence
being processed on a sustained basis. "Quick starting with digitized time and followed by
look" tapes, on the other hand, were processed digitized data are stored in the memory unit
on an expressline basis. until unloaded, a record at a time, onto a
Reports summarizing the results of the digital tape in accordance with the buffer's
tape evaluation were submitted weekly to the controls. The relationship of the STARS
103
ARIEL I." THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
line to the total processing system is illus- permitting a speedup of 4 to 1. Data re-
trated in figure 6-4. corded at 71/2 inches per second could thus be
The initial equipment for digitizing Ariel played back at 30 inches per second, permit-
I data was eventually supplemented, and ting an increased efficiency in the automated
finally supplanted, by the introduction of high digitizing operation. Operation at the 4x
speed equipment using a comb filter capable rate was found to be equal to and, in some
of operation between 20 kc and 60 kc, thus respects, superior to operation at lx rate as
ANALOG TAPES
FROM STATIO NS
TO DATA REDUCTION
BRANCH (DRB)
/
1 COPY FILE-P.O. J
1 COPY TO UK
J
J,
_ 2 COPIES TO
_ OF TAPE INDEX
WEEKLY RECEIVED (P.O.)
PROJECT OFFICE
EVALUATION OF
ANALOG
WITHIN
TAPE
2 DAYS
J
EVALUATIO N LOG COPY TO [
OF RECEIPT OF __ ANALOG TAPE FI P.O. FILE
TAPE-QUALITY
CONTROL
J.
21-25 DAYS LAG
TO ALLOW ASSEMBLY
OF TAPES IN A NEAR
C HRO NOLOGICAL
ORDER 1 COPY TO U.K.
2 COPIES TO P.O.
AND DISCREPANCIES J
TAPE AT
D_
WITH
ONE
TAPE
U.K.
COPY
DIGITAL
TO U.K. I ORBIT TAPES
STORE BUFFER k I REFINED ORBIT
PARAMETERS
PRODUCED 2 WEEKS
J LISTING TO DIGITAL
TAPES AND U.K. I
J,
J U.K. PROCESS 1 "q"E °"BAcK
°ON I"EcTs
°P
J EXPERIMENTERS
DATA TO I
FIGURE 6--3. Data processing scheduling procedure.
104
DATA PROCESSING
A
To be processed by
Analog Tape Unit
(e)l ,q
,-- BUFEER--JI
Tapes
Acceptable
for Re-run
Tapes
*NALOG
I T,ME
TAPE
UNIT
I DECODER
LINE #1
Tapesfor
0,O ,
TAPE
UNIT
I
I
I
]
i i BUFFER QUALITY
Re-run 1"
_. )_ TAPE CONTROL DATAFOR
READY
SHIPMENT
\ _ 1 ED,T
AND
\ REFORMAT OFFICE
_ _ PROJECT
VISUAL
Rejects
\
' \
\\ Buffer Tapes
\lj /
v i+1
1
_
STAGE
E_
G _
+ca
PRINTOUT
AND
OE
1401
C.EC_S
__Do
M
,, TaT,or//
, ,
or Unacceptable
/.. _
r
/
/
Partially Acceptable _ _ /
Unacceptable Tapes to
Buffer Topes o/ /
be Erased, Data to b
Acceptable Tapes /
4C
( • I COMB ( 4 .
v FILTER
1C
( • } COMB ( • ]
v FILTER BUFFER _ mml
s-s_
ANALOG -- DIG
j Digital Conversion
LiNE '2 i
.................... j
105
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
evidenced by the amount of time inconsisten- one pass of the analog tape and then the low-
cies and percentage of bad data points. The speed data processed in a second playback of
higher speed operation, initiated in January the tape. A 10:1 ratio of data compression
1964, facilitated the rapid reduction of a large was effected during the analog to digital con-
backlog of unprocessed tapes to a normal version process, i.e. approximately ten times
level. as much PFM data were stored on a given
Each pass or file on an analog tape was area of digital tape as compared to analog
recorded as a separate entity on the digital tape. This does not take into account the
tape, with each file being preceded by an supplementary information i.e. AGC, 10 kc
identification record and terminated by an linearizing frequency and voice, which is re-
end of file record. Different formats were corded on the analog tape but is not recorded
used for the high-speed and low-speed data. on the digital tape. By virtue of the com-
Moreover, the high-speed and low-speed data pression permitted by the digital recording
were recorded on separate digital tapes. process, multiple analog tapes were recorded
This was done in a two step operation, where- on a single digital tape.
in all high-speed data files were processed in The output of the STARS line consisted of
A= I. D. NUMBER
B= ORBIT NUMBER
C= EDIT TAPE NUMBER
D= NUMBER OF FILES
E= PLAYBACK SPEED A=HI B=LO
F= DIGITAL START TIME
G= DIGITAL STOP TIME
H= BUFFERLINE (O-A-B)
I -- BUFFER TAPE NUMBER
J = DATE DIGITIZED
K = OPERATOR CODE
L = TAPE RECORDER TIME CODE
M= EDIT DATE
N=P IF PRINTED BLANK IF NOT PRINTED
O= PRINT DATE
P = ERASE DATE
Q=CARD NUMBER
A B C DE F G H J K L M N
516211601001 0 2 48A180409 180653A 5 20516 BG 20602
516211618001 0 2 48A185600 190519A 5 20516 BG 20602
516211614001 I 2 48A193722 194809A 5 20516 BG 20602
516211603001 I 2 48A 194804 195435A 5 20517 BG 20602
516211606001 I 2 48AI 95547 200024A 5 20517 BG 20602
516211607001 I 2 48A200319 200703A 5 20517 BG 20602
516211616001 I 2 48A202342 203 I07A 5 20517 BG 20602
5 20517 _G
5 2O5
106
DATA PROCESSING
digital magnetictapesin IBM binary coded 2. All digital tapes were in standard IBM
decimalformatsuitablefor further automatic binary coded decimal (BCD) format, using
data processing. The tapes were one-half even parity, and written at 200 bits/inch.
inch wide by 1.5mils thick by 2400feet long 3. All tapes were checked for time con-
and were stored on ten-inch reels. They sistency, the inconsistencies being appropri-
were seven-tracktapes in accordancewith ately flagged. A summary of the number of
IBM standardsfor alpha-numericcode. Dig- time inconsistencies and data word dropouts
itized sensordata (analog)were encodedin was prepared as an on-line listing and sup-
termsof numbersbetweenzeroand128,and plied with each tape.
digital data as sequences of numbersusing 4. The first record in each file constituted
the digits zerothrough seven. an identification record, and the number of
files on a tape was counted. Figure 6-5 is an
DigitalOperations example of the high-speed edit showing the
Themagnetictapeoutputsfrom theSTARS number of files on an edit tape listing.
line wereusedasbuffertapesto producefinal Figure 6-6 is an example of the low-speed
tapes for delivery to the United Kingdom encoder file listing.
with the followingcharacteristics: The manner in which the data were regi-
1. All digital tapesweredividedinto two mented on the tapes is apparent in the follow-
categories: a) high-speed encoding and b) ing definitions.
low-speed encoding. File--A file constituted data received from
A= I.D. NUMBER
B= ORBIT NUMBER
C= EDIT TAPE NUMBER
D= NUMBER OF FILES
E= PLAYBACK SPEED
F= DIGITAL START TIME
G= DIGITAL STOP TIME
H= BUFFER LINE (O-A-B)
I = BUFFER TAPE NUMBER
J = DATE DIGITIZED
K= OPERATOR CODE
L = TAPE RECORDER TIME
M= EDIT DATE
N=P IF PRINTED BLANK IF NOT PRINTED
O= PRINT DATE
P = ERASE DATE
Q = CARD NUMBER
A B C DE F G H I J K L M N /
516211701001 10 I 39BI02833 I03038A 7 20529 EG 20518 /
516211712001 10 I 39BI02838 I03030 A 6 20529 GG 20518 Ix
516211803010 20 I 39B042503 042708A 8 20529 EG 20521
516211803011 21 I 39B06090B 051117A 8 20529 EG 20521 x_
516211814005 28 .. I 39B 170052 170252A 9 ^20529 GG 20521 /
,ou,uvj . - 39B ! 8_;202 ]Q_An_ a 9 f)529
- ........ ,-/'% 2o521
107
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
a single pass over a telemetry station and zeros, analog sensor data by any number
corresponded therefore to the data from one from 001 to 128.
analog tape recorded at that station. An The digital tapes obtained from the STARS
end-of-file mark was used to separate succes- line conversion were fed directly into an IBM
sive files. These marks were an unwritten 1401 computer. The purpose of the initial
gap of 31/2 to 8 inches in length followed by stage of computer processing was to edit and
a bit in the 8, 4, 2 and 1, tracks of the alpha- quality check the data to determine that the
numeric code (i.e. CBA8421). The tape STARS line equipment was functioning prop-
mark was followed immediately by a longi- erly and to flag time and data inconsistencies.
tudinal even parity check character. Printouts of such discrepancies, together with
Record--A record consisted of a number of summary information printed at the end of
characters separated by an unwritten inter- processing each file of data, provided the basis
val (inter-record gap) of 3/I, inch. A high- for either passing or rejecting the file. In
speed encoded record consisted of 976 char- the latter case the file was usually re-processed
acters. The low-speed encoder record con- through the STARS line.
sisted of 872 characters. Identification rec- Some of the checks made by the computer
ords constituted the first record of each file. were as follows :
The identification record consisted of a 12- a. Correct file identification--Each file
character word (ID word) repeated as many identification was printed on the operator's
times as was necessary to fill up the record. console display for verification.
The format of the ID word was as follows : b. Correct frame time intervals--If the
Day Count Tape time per frame was not within a prescribed
interval of time, the frame was denoted by
Satellite Year of Year Station Number
an asterisk. This normally occurred as a
XX XX XXX XX XXX
result of data dropouts of one or more frames
If an end-of-file mark occurred at the end of of data during the STARS line processing.
the ID record, this meant that the ID record c. Incorrect time--An example would be
was incorrect, the next succeeding record backward time where the time for a followin_
being the corrected ID record. frame was less than the preceding frame.
Frame--A frame consisted of a sequence of Each occurrence of incorrect time data re-
sensed data between synchronization pulses. sulted in a printout.
A high-speed frame consisted of 16 data d. Illegal data characters--Numbers out-
words corresponding to 16 bursts; the low- side the acceptable range. For analog trans-
speed frame consisted of 16 bursts and six- ducer data channels, the acceptable range was
teen blanks or 32 data words. In both types 000-119, whereas for digital transducer
of frames a time word appeared immediately data channels only eight discrete values were
following the first burst (i.e. the synchroniza- acceptable. Also included in this check were
tion burst) of that frame. This time word data channels with a unique code indicating
was used for computer check of time incon- that none of the comb fingers reached its
sistencies. threshold. Information printed at the end of
Word--Words were divided into two types: each file was as follows: the file indentifica-
a) time words and b) data words. Time tion, the station start and stop recording
words consisted of 12 BCD characters, the time, the amount of missing time as calcu-
first character containing a bit in at least the lated from the time gaps, the number of bad
8 and 4 track (i.e. CBA 8421=001100). or missing data points, the number of frames,
Data words consisted of 3 BCD characters and the percentage of data recovered from
representing the burst frequency quantized the file.
by filters in the comb filter. Digital sensor The output from the initial computer
data words appeared with numerals zero thru processing operation was an edited tape re-
seven as the first character followed by two corded in a prescribed format and containing
108
DATA PROCESSING
all the information that was contained on the 80 tapes of orbital position were sent to the
digital tape obtained from the STARS line. U.K.
In addition, the edit tape contained the flags
indicating time drop outs, incorrect time, and
Quality Control
incorrect or missing data. The edit tapes,
together with the related punch cards, were Two types of quality control were insti-
sent to the U.K. for further processing. The tuted for Ariel I data. The first was per-
edit tape was recorded in an IBM compatible formed automatically by the edit computer
tape format in order to permit direct input (IBM 1401) as outlined above. The second
to the IBM 1401 computer used for the first was performed by visual examination of
stage computer processing in the U.K. In- sample printouts to assure the experimenters
formation contained on the Orbit tape con- that electronic equipment was not malfunc-
sisted basically of sub-satellite latitude and tioning.
longitude and height of satellite. This posi- The following special characters were em-
tion information was given at constant time ployed to indicate either data, time, or low-
intervals throughout each orbit. A total of speed anomalies :
Inconsistent frame time was determined by sions were then counted and the sum accumu-
comparing two successive frame times and lated for each file. The sum of data dropouts
determining the differences. For a burst was printed, along with the sum of time inter-
blank duration of 20 milliseconds (the nomi- vals inconsistent, in an on-line hard copy
nal burst blank period), the frequency would printout.
be 50 cps. During rf interference checkout The proper time advance was shown by the
of Ariel I it was found that this 50 cps signal presence of a dot, and the reco'gnition of low-
interfered with a 100 cps signal used for time speed frame, that is the presence of the com-
encoding. Therefore, the burst blank rate mand tone, was shown by the presence of an
was changed to 55 cps. This change, in turn, ampersand. Examples of printouts of mag-
shortened the burst blank duration to 18.2 netic tape representing both high-and-low
milliseconds, and made the frame consisting speed encoded data are shown in figures 6-7
of 16 burst blank sequences 291 milliseconds and 6-8 respectively.
in ...... ,:^_ "-o+_a _¢ _h, nominal 320 milli- Upon completion of the automated editing
seconds. Accordingly the quality control operation, the computer printed out '" - _^1 bll_ iul-
109
ARIEL I" THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
Sotellite No.
SIil Year
6 Data Rece|ved
Identification Label _ 5 1 6 2 1 7 7 0 12 3 8
13 -07 1918 37.399 031 042 032 105 105 103 105 075 075 071 084 051 105 105 105 700 •
14 -07 1918 37.719 030 200 500 105 105 102 105 074 076 071 084 051 105 103 105 005 °
15 -07 1918 38.039 700 700 700 105 105 103 105 074 076 072 085 051 105 103 105 000 °
0 -07 1918 38.359 500 700 300 105 105 103 104 075 075 070 084 051 105 103 105 005 °
1 -07 1918 38.679 100 500 400 105 104 103 105 074 076 072 084 051 105 103 105 100 °
2 -07 1918 38.999 081 044 105 105 105 103 105 075 075 071 084 050 106 103 105 005 °
3 -07 1918 39.318 071 026 103 105 105 102 104 074 077 071 083 051 105 103 105 200 °
4 -07 1918 39.639 083 087 105 105 103 103 105 075 076 071 084 050 105 103 105 005 •
5 -07 1918 39.958 073 079 032 105 105 103 105 073 076 071 084 051 105 103 105 300 •
6 -07 1918 40.278 030 046 085 105 104 103 105 075 076 071 083 051 105 103 105 005 °
7 -07 1918 40.598 048 047 032 105 105 103 105 075 075 071 085 051 105 103 105 400 °
8 -07 1918 40.918 500 700 300 105 105 103 105 073 076 074 084 051 105 103 105 005 °
9 -07 1918 41.239 100 500 400 105 103 103 105 074 077 072 085 051 105 103 105 500 •
10 -07 1918 41.558 083 044 105 105 105 103 105 074 076 071 085 050 105 103 105 005 °
II -07 1918 41.878 071 054 103 105 104 103 105 074 077 071 084 051 105 103 105 600 *
12 -07 1918 42.198 085 072 105 105 105 103 105 076 075 071 085 051 105 103 105 005 •
13 -07 1918 42.518 032 043 032 IO5 105 103 105 075 075 072 083 050 105 103 105 700 •
14 -07 1918 42.838 031 500 300 105 105 103 105 074 076 071 083 050 105 103 105 005 •
15 -07 1918 43.158 700 700 700 105 105 103 105 073 076 071 084 050 105 103 105 000 •
0 -07 1918 43.478 700 700 300 105 104 078 105 074 077 071 084 050 105 081 105 005 •
1 -07 1918 43.798 100 600 400 105 105 083 105 074 077 071 085 051 105 087 105 100 •
2 -07 1918 44.118 086 045 050 094 092 065 101 075 077 071 085 051 105 068 103 005 °
3 -07 1918 44.438 072 081 074 041 093 071 103 075 077 071 085 050 105 075 102 200 •
13 -07 1928 00.525 029 043 029 023 097 047 103 051 065 046 076 046 1051 051 103 700
14 -07 1928 00.844 036 400 700 025 097 054 103 047 ........................ •
15 -07 1928 01.169 ................................................ •
0 -07 1928 01.487 ................................................ °
1 -07 1928 01.805 ..........
2 -07 1930 20.348 045 045 105 105 104 103 105 043 075 065 085 041 107 103 105 005/
Indicates a tlmedrop-out.
(Frame 1 to 2)
llO
DATA PROCESSING
/ 1[_ DTo_
¥_--;;;---r
5/9/6 I MinitrackStation
(Blossom
Point)
INITIAL
START
PLAYBACK
OF
TONE (ICT)
CHANNEL NO.
Z TIME
FRAME OaylHr.
M;.I Sec 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
NO.
-07 1928 04.793 114011 114041 115070 115053 114075 114099 114011 114042 114074 115045 114105 115011 113053 113082 113083 114005 *
-07 1928 05.111 115011 114054 115095 114014 114099 114023 114011 114500 114600 114700 114700 114011 114071 115700 114500 115+++ •
0 -07 1928 05.432 113011 113034 114070 114054 115076 115101 115011 113052 114082 114045 115106 115011 114051 114081 113083 1140(_ •
-07 1928 05.750 115011 115047 114095 115014 114102 114023 114011 115200 115700 115700 115700 114011 114071 114700 115500 115+++ •
0 -07 1928 06.071 115011 114060 114070 113052 114075 114099 115011 115042 114075 114044 114106 115011 114054 114083 114083 114005 •
-07 1928 06.389 114011 114041 115093 115014 115099 114023 114011 113700 114700 114700 115700 115011 114071 114100 114600 114"++ *
0 -07 1928 06.709 115011 115053 114070 114053 114075 114101 115011 115053 115083 114045 114105 114011 114051 114086 115083 115005 °
-07 1928 07.028 114011 114034 114095 115014 115102 115036 114011 114400 113000 114000 114400 114011 114072 114100 115600 114+++ •
0 -07 1928 07.348 115011 114047 114071 114053 114075 114099 114011 114042 115074 115045 114106 114011 114055 114077 114083 114005 *
-07 1928 07.667 114011 114061 114091 114014 115099 114034 115011 114200 114100 114000 113400 115011 114072 115200 114600 115+++ •
0 -07 1928 07.987 114011 114041 114071 115054 115075 115101 114011 114053 114083 114045 115105 114011 114050 114081 114085 114005 *
-07 1928 08.305 115011 115053 114092 114014 114101 115030 114011 114600 114100 115000 114400 114011 114071 114400 115600 115÷*_" •
0 -07 1928 08.626 115011 114035 114071 114053 115076 114101 114011 114041 114072 114045 114107 115011 115050 114081 114083 114005 •
-07 1928 08.944 114011 115048 114090 115014 115099 114030 114011 114200 115200 114000 114400 114011 114071 114600 114600 115+++ •
0 -07 1928 09.265 114011 115060 114070 114053 113076 114101 114011 115047 114071 114044 114105 114011 114049 114079 115084 114005 •
-07 1928 09.583 114011 113040 114092 114014 115101 114035 114011 114600 114200 114000 114400 115011 114071 114700 114600 115+++ •
4=O -07 1928 09.904 115011 114053 115071 114053 114075 114101 115011 114045 115079 115045 114106 114011 113054 114081 115083 115005 •
115099 115032 115011 115200 114300 113000 114400 114011 115071 115000 114700 114++_ *
-07 1928_0.222 114011 115034 114091 115014
i : \
USED TO OBTAIN I REAL TIME Of LAST FRAME = RTLF = (ICT) - (FCT - ITLF) 48
APPROX TRUE FRAME TIME
RTLF = 19h28m02.867 s- (19h30m09.779 = - 19h30m09.667 = ) 48
1 -07 !930 07.112 115011 114047 115093 113014 114101 114024 115011 114700 114300 114700 115200 114011 114071 114100 114300 115+++ •
0 -07 1930 07.433 114011 114061 114070 114053 115076 114101 115011 114044 114072 114045 115106 115011 114050 114078 114083 113005 •
1 -07 1930 07.751 115011 115041 115095 115014 114099 114023 113011 114600 114400 115700 115200 114011 114072 114500 115300 115+++ *
0 -07 1930 08.072 115011 115053 114069 114053 115076 114101 116011 114053 115082 114045 114105 115011 115059 115083 114085 114005 *
I -07 1930 08.390 114011 114035 115095 115014 115101 114024 114011 114600 115500 114700 115600 114011 114071 114000 114400 114¢+÷ *
0 -07 1930 08.710 115011 115047 114070 114053 114075 114101 114011 115042 114073 114045 114105 114011 114(_1 114061 115083 115005 •
1 -07 1930 09.028 114011 114061 113095 115014 115099 115024 114020 114600 114600 114700 113600 115011 114072 115100 114400 114+++ *
0 -07 1930 09.349 114011 114041 115070 115053 114075 114101 114011 115053 115083 115045 11411_ 113011 114060 114083 114085 115005 •
I L -07 1930 09._7 114020 114053 114095 114014 114--- 114.
111
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
well in the data processing, test and integra- were 10 millisecs in duration. The frequency
tion of subsequent spacecraft. was constant during the burst but could be
any frequency between 4.5 and 15 kc. A
frame of data was comprised of 16 bursts and
Design of the Ariel I Stars Line--H. H. Levy blanks with a frame sync pulse burst being
15 ms in duration with special frequencies in
Until the advent of the Ariel I project, only
the burst. The telemetry was sent in two
one STARS (Satellite Telemetry Automatic
different formats. One (hi-speed) contained
Reduction System) system had been designed
16 frames per sequence, the other (low-speed)
and put into operation (for the S-30, S-3,
contained 2 frames per sequence. The hi-
P-14, Vanguard 3 satellites). The Ariel I
speed was real-time data while the low-speed
satellite introduced several new requirements
was playback data from a tape recorder in the
for data processing and therefore the design satellite. In both formats there were analog
of its data processor departed from that of or octal channels in each frame of data. It
the first STARS in a number of ways. was decided that the processor could more
Format Description. The Ariel I format efficiently determine the octal or analog chan-
was made up of frequency bursts and blanks nels than the computer, so recognition of the
of data using PFM telemetry. The bursts frame sync, channel sync, frame sequence
ANALOG
TAPE
DECK COMB FILTER
COMB
CONVERTER OUTPUT
FILTER
I PROCESSOR ]
4S ,_ l
RECOGNIZER
__ MODE
L
FRAME &
CHANNEL
CONTROL DIGITAL TAPE
©
COMPUTER
FORMAT
©
CONTROL
BUFFER
SYNCHRONIZER
J WORD
,L
FRAME
&
SYNC
LOCK
I SEARCH
112
DATA PROCESSING
number, and hi-speed or low-speed were de- cps bandwidth filters. One hundred and
signed into the processor. The low-speed twenty-eight filters were used to cover the
also had the blanks filled in with a reference data band of 5-15 kc plus guard bands above
frequency of 15.4 kc. This was digitized also and below the data band for special fre-
as a check on the speed of the satellite tape quencies. This allowed 1% resolution of the
recorder. The system used for processing data frequencies. The comb filter was rede-
the data is shown in figure 6-9. signed to cope with the low-speed data which
General Equipment Description. An im- had the blanks filled in with the reference
provement in this system over previous sys- frequency. It was necessary to split off from
tems was the addition of an automatic burst the data channels the bank of filters from
rate synchronizer and an automatic frame 15.1 kc to 16.3 kc and not have those teeth in
sync recognizer and verification system. the filter contribute to the AGC system in the
This removed from the operator the control bank since the AGC was designed for a 50-cps
and decision previously needed by him to data word rate and the 100-cps rate would
process a tape. shift the AGC erroneously.
The sequence arrangement of Ariel I meant Comb Filter Converter. This was a logic
that, in order to correctly determine channels system to convert one of the 128 pulses
and frames, there must be an indicator of from the comb filter at any burst time into a
which frame was which. This was done by BCD or octal number representing the fre-
using the sync pulse position and encoding a quency of the burst. If the data were analog,
specific frequency in the sync burst of a they were represented as a number from 1 to
specific frame. Upon decoding the sync fre- 123 ; if digital, a number from 000 to 700.
quency the data processor could continuously Word Synchronizer. A digital phase-locked
monitor and check its frame decommutator loop acquired the phase and frequency of the
position. telemetry burst rate and provided a clock to
The beginning of a low-speed playback was the remaining parts of the system. It also
recognized by a two-second burst of 320 cps. provided a flywheel for passing through miss-
This required special filter and logic circuits. ing data.
This signal was used to correlate the low- Frame and ChanneI Decommutation. This
speed data with real time. subsystem provided the logic to determine
The system was designed to treat the data which frame and which channel were being
as follows: with a front panel switch in the recognized so that the data output could be
hi-speed data position, the recognition cir- indicated as either analog or octal.
cuits would detect the hi-speed format and Mode Recognizer. This circuit provided
when locked on correctly would then output the necessary logic for determining whether
data to the computer control buffer. When hi-speed or low-speed data were being re-
low-speed data were recognized while in the ceived.
hi-speed mode, they were ignored and no data Processor Output Control. This subsys-
were sent to the buffer. As soon as the hi- tem was a large multiplexer which gathered
speed resumed, the system output was re- all data and commands and controlled the
sumed. buffer operation.
Frame Sync, Search, and Lock. This unit
speed mode, the recognition circuits would detected frame sync, verified correct acquisi-
detect the 320 cps tone and lock onto the low- tion, and provided a flywheel over missing
speed data. At the end of the low-speed data sync pulses. The system did not output data
the system would stop. unless in the lock mode.
Subsystem Description. The. system was Computer Format Control Buffer. This
comprised of several subsystems described as was a commercial equipment which contained
follows : a time decoder, a memory, and a digital tape
Comb Filter. A contiguous bank of 100- recorder. Its function is to receive data
113
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
from the processor or time from the time 2. Display and print the frequency of
decoder, both upon cbmmand from the proces- any one channel in every frame.
sor, and to put this information on a digital 3. Collect the data groupings C_, C2, C3,
tape in IBM-binary coded decimal format. and C4, and C_, Co, and X1, X2, X3, X4, and
The digital tape then was suitable for further Xs, in which each channel was one of eight
processing by a computer. possible discrete frequencies, and thus three
bits of the larger multibit number, and hav-
Ariel I Test Stand--A. Demmerle
ing compiled these three bit numbers, convert
The Ariel I (test stand) data reduction them to an easy-to-read decimal number for
system was designed and three systems built display and printout.
to facilitate the integration and testing of the 4. Keep track of how many high-speed
satellite. The system's input was the raw and how many low-speed sequences had
PFM signal, obtained from a receiver output elapsed.
or as recorded on an instrumentation tape
The principal differences between this sys-
deck. The outputs of the systems were de-
tem and the data reduction system for final
commutated and decoded data, which allowed
in-flight data processing (STARS line) lie
the checkout of the entire satellite data col-
in two areas:
lecting system, from the sensor, encoders, and
modulator through the transmitters and RF 1. This system had a higher threshold
equipment. These outputs were presented signal-to-noise ratio; i.e., it could not process
very noisy in-flight data, it did not use the
both as visual displays and on a paper-tape
printout which served as a permanent record sophisticated signal conditioning equipment
of the final in-flight data processing lines.
of the satellite's performance under the vari-
ous tests for environmental conditions. The 2. It could not output all the data all the
degree to which this system processed the time, nor did it output data on a digital tape,
data can be best seen by viewing at the PFM ready for further data reduction by computer
encoder format. processing. Instead it visually displayed the
Each channel was a ten-millisecond blank output of only several channels of data at one
followed by a sinusoidal ten-millisecond burst time, which was all that was necessary for the
which conveyed information by virtue of the integration testing and evaluation stage of a
frequency of the burst. (There were two satellite design.
types of sequence, the high-speed sequence It was, however, capable of some process-
which consisted of 16 channels/frame and ing of some in-flight data, and was in fact
16 frames/sequence which was used for real used for "quick look" immediately upon and
time data transmission, and a low-speed after launch to see that the satellite was func-
sequence with 16 channels/frame and two tioning properly. It was well suited to this
frames/sequence which was used for playing purpose because of its ready output of read-
back, upon command, data which had been able, usable data.
recorded on an on-board tape recorder.)
During the low speed encoder data the blanks Statistical Summary
were filed by a 15.4 kc sinusoidal signal
Tabulated here are the totals of the data
which was used as a reference signal to cor-
rect for on-board tape recorder speed fluctu- acquired, processed and shipped to the U.K.
ations. for the active life of Ariel I. This covers the
This data reduction system could : period from launch up to the time data acqui-
1. Find and maintain synchronism be- sition terminated in November, 1964.
tween the data reduction system, and the 1. Telemetry Data Tapes Received
telemeter format, i.e., be able to label any from Network Stations
given channel and frame in the same way it a. No. Received From
had been labeled within the satellite encoder. All Stations .............. 11,910
114
DATA PROCESSING
Equivalent No. of
Total Hours of Data Data Points
Successfully Processed Successfully Processed
115
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
overall planning and the computer program- ence. Two 1401 edit programmes were pre-
ming effort. Mr. Daniel Dembrow managed pared, one for the real-time (high-speed)
the production operations with the able as- data, the other for the stored (low-speed)
sistance of Mr. Clyde Freeman. And finally, data; these two types of data had been digi-
Mr. Bernie Narrow and Mr. Dembrow con- tized in separate chronological sequences in
tributed greatly to the documentation pre- the U.S. and were handled entirely separately
sented herein. from each other in the U.K.
One hour of high-speed data required 12
UNITED KINGDOM PROCESSING minutes to edit; the low-speed data took
rather longer.
E. B. Dorling, U.K. Project Coordinator
The edited data were next processed on an
The data from ARIEL I were received in IBM 7090 computer. The inputs to the com-
the United Kingdom in digital form on a total puter were a 1401 output tape, an orbital tape
of 623 magnetic tapes (including 26 which (a weekly data tape written at the GSFC in
were redigitized on the NASA STARS line) binary code, giving geodetic longitude, lati-
tude and height against every minute of
with the individual experiments still inter-
mixed. Satellite height-and-position data Universal Time), ten day cards and the pro-
were also received on magnetic tape. The gram. The outputs were five high-density
initial task in the U.K. was to separate the tapes, four in BCD carrying the results of the
data on individual tapes, first analyzing and experiments contributed by each of the four
groups of experiments, the fifth in binary,
reducing them where po:asible and adding the
duplicating certain of U.C.L. data. Two
orbital information and any other relewmt
7090 programs were prepared, one for the
geophysical data. Thus, each experimenter
high-speed data, the other for the low-speed
could be presented with his results in a form
data; both comprised a main program in
suitable for further independent analysis
FORTRAN with sub-routines and functions
and interpretation.
mainly in FORTRAN but with one or two
(such as a sub-routine provided by the GSFC
The Computer Program
for reading the binary orbital tape) in FAP.
The computer operations in the U.K. were The majority of the sub-routines contained
organized in the following way. The data, complex logical arguments concerning the ac-
which were written in low density (200 ceptance or rejection of data, followed by
eh./in.) binary coded decimal format were simple calibrations and the evaluation of
edited on an IBM i401 computer. This oper- functions. One sub-routine computed B/L
ation checked the identification record on values at given points and added these to the
each data file (a file being the data acquired Imperial College and Birmingham low-speed
in one 10- to 20-minute pass of the satellite data. Another sub-routine checked the tim-
over a STADAN station), identified the syn- ing of each frame and detected faulty values,
chronization pulses which began each encoder correcting them where possible, printing
frame, checked that each data sample had its them out where not. With the low-speed
appropriate three-character word, and dis- data the real times of each data frame were
carded any eneoder sequence which was in- computed from the playback time accompany-
complete. The output was written on mag- ing each file, and were inserted. A necessary
netic tape in high density (556 eh./in.) BCD input with both programs was a batch of
in a standard format of one identification ten-punched cards or "day cards" which pro-
record and a series of long data records, one vided certain extra information necessary to
record per encoder sequence, each pass again the interpretation of some experiments. For
being written as one file. If required, the instance, solar aspect measurements were
edited data could at the same time be listed in carried on the high-speed encoder but were
columns on the 1401 printer for easy refer- needed in the analysis of the stored data;
116
DATA PROCESSING
accordingly these measurements were re- was modified, usually by the removal of a
duced by hand in advance of the routine data sub-routine. With the failure of the Bir-
processing and values were inserted on the mingham RF probe on 3rd March 1963 the
low-speed day cards. Entries on these cards U.C.L. electron density and temperature boom
were also used to correct play-back command probe became the sole surviving sensor, and
time errors which had been detected from at this stage an important change in proce-
records supplied by the GSFC. With the dure was made. It was arranged that the
high-speed program the day cards were responsibility for processing all data acquired
largely concerned with calculation of sunrise should be taken over by U.C.L. from the
and sunset times. S.R.M.U. To economize in machine time a
In order to save future computer time the new computer program was prepared by
experimenters' outputs were written in spe- U.C.L. which, amongst other changes, dis-
cial long records of several thousand charac- pensed with the preliminary 1401 editing
ters each. The product of one computer run routine. It also dispensed with the orbital
was written as a single file of these long tape and instead calculated each height and
records, a run being based usually on the position from the appropriate orbital ele-
contents of one U.S. digital tape, averaging ments, a process which in this particular
33 files or satellite passes. One file of high- application saved computer time.
speed data took about seven minutes to proc-
Errors in Data
ess on the 7090 (half this time on the 7094) ;
the low-speed data took a little longer. The 1401 edit programs were written bear-
In general the low-speed data, which were ing in mind that the data would contain a
of good quality, were processed fully well in variety of errors, or would fail to conform
advance of the high-speed data because of the exactly with the specified format. Certain
great value of orbit-by-orbit coverage, coupled errors were not foreseen, however, and these
with the relative simplicity of the analysis either halted the 1401 (as, for example,
procedures. with an asterisk) or they, were carried
The product of a 7090 run was, as we have through to the 7090, causing data to be reject-
seen, five partially-filled experimenters' tapes. ed or to give faulty outputs or to cause the
These tapes were collated from time to time run to be terminated. Because of the large
to produce final master tapes. In some cases volume of other data awaiting attention, time
the masters have been or will be used on com- was not spent on overcoming errors but, with
certain exceptions, the tapes were put aside.
puters for a further stage of analysis; in
Some ten per cent of the total data up to 3rd
others no further computer analysis is in-
March 1963 were affected. The experiment-
tended. In particular most of the stored
Birmingham RF probe electron density data, ers were informed of the position and were
to which were added Universal Time, local told that recovery would only be attempted
solar time, geodetic and geopotential height, by special reques t . The exceptions were the
geodetic and geomagnetic co-ordinates, have low-speed data and those data taken in the
first three weeks after launch where the
been printed in full and reproduced in four
X-ray experiment was working correctly.
volumes for general scientific use ; the remain-
Errors encountered here were first located
ing data may be published in a fifth volume
in due course. and identified, then removed by selective
copying. In order that as much solar X-
radiation data as possible should be recovered
Program Modification
some data were redigitized at the GSFC and
From time to time during the life of the in addition a few analog passes originally
satellite an experiment would cease to oper- rejected as unusable were digitized. Where
ate, and so at the appropriate stage in the these data were then found to be too poor to
data processing the 7090 computer program be accepted by the 1401 edit program, they
117
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
were listed in their raw form and sent to the difficulties by modifications to the programs
experimenter to be analyzed by hand; but it in the time available.
is of interest that little useful information
could in fact be obtained from data rejected Summary of Tape Operations
by the 1401. A total of 623 magnetic tapes (including
Two difficulties encountered during the 26 redigitized) were received in the U.K.
computer operations caused a disproportion- from the Data Processing Branch of the
ate expenditure of time and money. One was GSFC. These carried 8307 hours of non-
the inability of the 1401 to deal with an redundant data, including some 850 play-
asterisk, the result of encountering a crop of backs of low-speed data.
asterisks on data tape being a large number Of the total amount of digitized data re-
of extra 1401 operations and a proliferation ceived, about 37% (1200 hours) were proc-
of 7090 output tapes. The other difficulty essed by the S.R.M.U., using over 850 hours
was the action of the 7090 monitor in termi- of IBM 1401 time and 140 hours of IBM 7090
nating a run when a fault was encountered, time (not including time lost initially with
rather than permitting the fault to be skipped program faults). About 31/9% of the data
and the run continued. This again caused were rejected because of errors. The re-
more 1401 copying operations and resulted maining 60% (2000 hours) carried only elec-
in yet more 7090 output tapes. Unfortu- tron temperature data and these were proc-
nately, it proved impossible to overcome these essed separately by U.C.L.
118
REFERENCES
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ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
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41. BOWEN, P. J., BOYD, a. F., HENDERSON, C. a., AND WILLMORE, A. P., "Measurement
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121
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
59. GOLDBERG, R. A., AND SCHMERLING, E. R., "The Effect of Diffusion on the Equilibrium
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70. EVANS, W. J., "Aerodynamic and Radiation Disturbance Torques on Satellites Hav-
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ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOURDEAU, R. E., "Ionospheric Results with Sounding Rockets and the Explorer VIII
Satellite," Space Research II ; Proceedings of the Second International Space Science
Symposium, Florence, Italy, April 10-1_, 1961 (H. C. Van de Hulst, C. de Jager, and
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Charged Particle Measurements on Rockets and the Explorer VIII Satellite," Space
Research III; Proceedings of the Third International Space Science Symposium,
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Holland Publishing Co., 1963.
BOURDEAU, R. E., DONLEY, J. a., SERBU, G. P., AND WHIPPLE, E. C., JR., "Measurements
of Sheath Currents and Equilibrium Potential on the Explorer VIII Satellite," J.
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CONN, J. H., SUTTON, J. F., Report of Environmental Vibration Test--Structural Model
No. 1, International Ionosphere Satellite, S-51, Goddard Space Flight Center 321.2
(JC) S-51-11, June 1961.
CORNILLE, n. J., JR., "A Method of Accurately Reducing the Spin Rate of a Rotating
Spacecraft," NASA Technical Note D-1420, October 1962.
DAVIES, A. H., HARRIS, I., Rarefied-Gas Dynamics, III, p. 661, 1963.
ENG, T. L., "Energy Absorber for the Ariel I Instrument Booms," Washington, D. C.:
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FEDOR, J. V., "Analytical Theory of the Stretch Yo-Yo for De-Spin of Satellites," NASA
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FORSYTHE, R. W., "A Method for Simulating Zero Gravity Erection of Satellite Append-
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FORSYTHE, R. W., "Analysis of Dissimilar Satellite Appendages During Erection,"
NASA Technical Note D-1688, January 1964.
FUECHSEL, C. J., KRUEGER, V. L., MAI{TIN, R. G., PIAZZA, F. D., TURKIEWICZ, J. M.,
"Electronic Integration of the S-51 Uk-1 International Ionosphere Satellite," NASA
Technical Note D-3001, September 1965.
HORD, W. n., General Environmental Test Specification and Test Procedures for Design
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KPO, ssovsKY, V. I., "Exploration of the Upper Atmosphere with the Help of the Third
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123
ARIEL 1: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
124
APPENDIX A
125
ARIEL I" THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
INERTIA _*OOM
SOLAR
SOLAR
PADDLE
PADDLE A
ELECTRON
TEMPERATURE
BOOM
- D
\
ELECTRON DENSITY
BOOM
SOLAR '_
PADDLE /z_
SOLAR
INE RIIA BOOM PADDLE /_
[]
\ S[ PARA TION
PLANE
126
APPENDIX A--PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS OF ARIEL I
Y - AXIS X - AXIS
FOR CALIBRATION FOR CALIBRATION
I
_/Ix = 5.130
J
I
4
_'_I y : 4.030
H
3
I
90 °
PRINCIPAL AXES
114°
I I I I I I I
20 ° _0 ° 60 ° 80 ° 100 ° 120 ° 140 ° 160 ° 180°
26 ° 34.4 °
29.6 °
450 900 950 116° 127"6° L
Y - AXIS J, X - AXIS
FZGURE A2. Principal moments of inertia vs. payload axes, all components extended.
C HAIxlC E VOUGHT
SEPARATION UNIT
DELTA NYLON
DUTCHMAN TIE DOWNS
I, I, I,I, I'
n 2 4 6 8 Io 12 11 I,, I_ ;()
H JC!IF',
127
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
TABLE A1
assembly fasteners
Includes elec- 5. 70
Paddle arms and Includes interface 4. 36 Cosmic ray
analyzer tronics
hinges (4) fasteners
Inertia booms and Includes interface 3. _5
128
APPENDIX B
129
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
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COLOR CODE
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133
ARIEL I: THE F1RST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
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3p IN • I I I lllll I iN i[]llllillil 67
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135
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
COLOR CODE
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136
APPENDIX B--SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFILE
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ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
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3918 26 • In II I I m I In • • mi mI Ii I J3
3933 27 • I • I I I • II lI I • I Ill I lliii_75
3947 28 [] Ul n nl I • • I• I • Io,I.I I • I I I _77
3961 29 ai ii u m m • II II I • i n I II I In 80
3976 30 • in in in n | m _._ _ _ _ _ _m•l_i ja a 85
3990 31
COLOR CODE:
• MODULATION / CARRIER _ ABNORMAL MODULATION
139
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
72
4176 13 II II In l IJ • • I • II II II II
4190 14. I II II III I • • I IIII II • Ill 70
15 68
4204 I I II l I • • • I IIII II l Ill II
4219 16. I I • II I • I I • II In • II I I 67
4233 IZ I • • • I • l • ll ll • II 66
4262 19 I • IN I • I I Illlll II II II I 64
4333 24 n n • I • • • illU n ii ii iN i 63
4347 25 I • II • n lmll II I II 63
4362 26 I IIlI • • • • l• • ll I _ 64
0 I 2 5 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 1819£021 222524-
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION / CARRIER ® ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY • NO _SIGNAL <t COMMAND
140
APPENDIX B--SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFILE
4562
,,.,= = • ,._=_.,, , _ ,_. ,.,= _6
_7
4576 77
4590 77
4605
157 ) ) ¢ ¢ _ • mm m mm m m um u mm 74
4619 16_m m mm'm mm"m -m nmm- m- -mm- mmmm- 74
4633
171m m mmm m m m mm m mmm - m- - mm- mm-mm m 73
4648 18Jm-m- mmmm m m m n-mm- m- -ram-mm- mmmm- 72
4662 19 • mm mum• m • m iI m mm mm nm mm 70
69
4676 20 • mm mlnm mm • m m n nnmmmm
4691 21iN mm mmmm mm m mum m n mm in u• • _8
m
4705 22) mm mumm mm mm mmm u m n mn mn nm • _67
m
4719 23jmm munro m • • m m n m mm mmm mm • 67
m
4733 24_m mm mn mm • mum m m mm mm mm • m 66
4748 mm mmmm • • 66
25_ mmli • mi m m i•
4762 mm mmmmmm • _5
26_ imm • i• m u ml n
4776 mm mmmm mm • _5
271mmm •ram • m m m mm m
4791 28ram • urn• m m mum m mmmmmm • • _64
48!9
29_ mnmm
30m mum • u: : ,,, m n,
mum m mmmmmu • mm 64
I
0 I 2 .5 4 5 G 7 8 9 I0 II I_ 13 14 15 16 I'1' 18 1970 _1 2Z2,.'3 24
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION f' CARRIER _ ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY • NO SIGNAL <] COMMAND
FTC_R_ B12. Ariel l profile, March 1963.
141
ARIEL l: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
5205 26 II I In II • II Ill • • • • I 67
5263 3( ll I • II • iN ill • I • i i II 66
0 I 2 5 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 25 24
COLOR CODE
I
142
APPENDIX B-- SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFILE
GREENWICH MEAN TIME
Pass
o _ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 _o. _2_3_4_5_6_7_ _9202_222324 %
No.
Date I I I I I I J I I I r i EI I I I 1 I I I Sun,g,*
5277
1__ _ _1 Bile am u mn mu!nn!u m Ii Ill 1__66
5291
2_ _ _w m_ e,! a a la mm,ieJ_ im olli men u_6
5306
3 i i I I • U a m i illm |i • • i in m!_oj6
5320 4_ m | | H g | i Hi| aa| a _ _ _| |! 66
5334 5_ | | | | _ | | |a []i [] | _ _ _J_J l_| | 66
,Ioooooooooo
oooo
oolo
o o oooo ooo
0 I P 3 4 5 6 7 8 ? I0 II 12 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 722524
COLOR CODE
/
143
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
5778 5 1 I 11 I I I II I I I I I I 68
5835 9 I I I • II I I I II I I III I • I I 65
5849 10 II III I I [] II 65
6121 29 III II II I I I I l II I II i II 67
Uv%,
0 I 2 5 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 15 14 15 16 17 18 19E021 2Z 2524
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION f CARRIER ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY [] NO SIGNAL <[ COMMAND
144
APPENDIX B--SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFILE
No" Oa'eI I , L L
6150 I 1_|| ,ill [_| °_'iI t B|I Li I En
L F| l I I| L I _ L_E I|
|lJ |• I _F66so°,igh,
6_o_
I '_t_ _ ii, n __ n _ __ _H _ _ _ i_,
6,_i _o
i . . ,.. ,.. • ,,,,,,• ,• ,, .in . _66
6436 1 21_ I l II II I III_I I In • Ill I _7
o, no ,,,=,= • . . ,, ,, . ,t
_"/ _ " "= • • '"= '' ' " = = ' IJ'
6,,_ / _ . •, • • • In • . . In ,= l F,_
65ozI _n mE i II I • mIJ • it i i in i m i _6
65'_2[ _'_ in Ill ii l Hi iN i i i i i i_51
65_6 / _st • I I Um • mini I rim• m m _un m nn _-_,
65501 29_6 n _!! _ _ gl.I _ !_ ! _ _ __ _ _oo
65z91
/
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION _ CARRIER _ ABN ORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY • NO SIGNAL <t COMMAND
145
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
6779 14 • • • I| I I II I InmlIl• 78
6822 17 II II I I • II II I I II II I 71
6837 18 • II I• I I I I I I I I II • 69
6851 19 I II I I II II | II II II I II BI I 68
6951 26_11 I • • •1 I I I I i • HI II _ 65
6965 27 • I • •1 I II I| II I • • • Ill _ 65
6980
281 I • II • I I I I I I _.. • III I_ 6_
6994 29 II • II I •11 I II I I I I II Ii_6_
7008 I 30i II I •11 I I1•1 I • • II •11_6_
7022! 31_ I •11 I I II II III • II •111_ 6_
0 I P 3 4 5 6 _ 8 9 I0 II 12 15 14 IS 16 17 18 19 20 21 E22324
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION CARRIE_ _ ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY • NO SIGNAL _ COMMAND
FZGUaE B17. Ariel I profile, August 1963.
146
APPENDIX B--SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFILE
7151 9_ • HI I I IN l RE l l l In l II i l 72
7166 lOJa
_ in l II In l II i°l -- • Hi l liB In • 72
7438 29_ In BH l I II • Hi If I li ll I _7
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION / CARRIER @ ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY i NO SIGNAL <_ COMMAND
147
ARIEL h THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
l lllZlllll]/lll21111111
7466 1t II I I I i III • Ill l I el • i l al II _66
7481 2_ I I • II I I I I • III • i In II I II _66
7495 3_ I l I i • I I • •l • El • • • n I II _66
7509 4tl II • II • • l • liB l•l ml I iiJ Ill II Bt-_66
7523 5_ Imll•l I I •lli•llllll l• Ill II I I _67
7538 6_ III III Io_I II IIIII II II mR II II I I __67
7552 7_11 IIIII • I • _lllllllll IN I•1 II I I IF 67
7566 8_ I I II • II I • I I ill I I I • II •1 I I i _67
7581 9_111 •!l I l l In l•l IIIII II I• I ill II ! I _67
7595 lo_11i I i ni"m • i • inn ••1 • [] i il mi m i _68
7609 ll_U i in • • i • ohm Ill li • I• IN nl I l a_ 68
7624 12_i Hi III l • ill Ill • I • li Ill Hi l l I!_ 69
7638 13pII l IIl II Ill Ill •11• • Ill II I I II II 69
.]
7652 14tll • • I • il Illl Hill II E [ HI I I II lit 69
7667 15_1 liB l II l•llllll Ilia II Ill II l I II llll 70
7681 16till I U I II Ill Ill • l HI Ill I l II Ill _70
7695 17_11 l • III Ill Ill I II Ill II II I l III l_7l
7710 18_ I • I • I Ill Ill I • Ill In II I I I •1_71
7724 19tll I I II Illlll • II II II I II llllIL71
7738 20_ il I II I Ill I II I II • II Ill II I l II HI l J 71
7752 2ill I • mill lllllll • I II I I II HI l_ 71
7767 22 U • illllillll li •1 II I ! Illlllli__71
7781 23 l II liB Ill l II I I • • I I l I I II I 70
7795 24 • llllll Ill I II JII II I I II III III I 70
7810 25 I • I liD Ill • • HI II II I l II el I l _ 69
7824 26 I I III II l • el I l II l l l I IIl l _ 69
7838 27 II l I In I HI I • • In II I l I l l l I _68
7853 28 IIIII ll III l • liB II I l l ll ll I I 68
7867 29 I • II l II I II I l • l I I I I • I • l I 67
7881 30 • II l III II l l Ill l I I I I • • l I _67
7896 31 II I Hi I II I • I I I I l I l II • • ii Ii 67
J
0 I _ 5 4 5 6 '7 8 9 I0 II 12 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 222324
COLOR CODE
II MODULATION / CARRIER @ AI}NORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY • NO ,SIGNAL <_ COMMAND
148
APPENDIX B SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFILE
--76
20_ _ _ _ __79
__84
211 _ _ _
22_ _ _ _ __97
29_ I I I I_ 100
II I I) rm_m_)I_ _I_ _ l))Joo
It
0 I _ 3 4 5 6 7 8 ? I0 II I_ 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 _021 ZZ _:5_4
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION / CARRIER @ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY IN0 8IGNAL <t COMMAND
149
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
8354
_lOO
8368 3 _ _ _ _ _® _ _ _ ®_i ® ® _ _ _ 89
41_ _ _ _® _ L_ _ __'_ _ I_ I1_ 81
8382
51 _ I _ I_ li_l _ _ IS • II if Ill il_ 76
8397
o_ _ In i ii I • ll lUll In el B_i__. i _3
8411
7JR liB Bin l l i • • I In HUB l • li liB l _0
8425
8J I I li lii • el illl li • II II _9
8440
8454 9] l ll Ill If • li li B• II ll In I 67
8626 21_ I I I l l |l I I I II l l _4
0 I _ 5 4 5 6 _ 8 9 10 II 12 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 222524
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION CARRIER @ ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY • NO 6IGNAL _ COMMAND
150
APPENDIX B--SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFI.LE
8798 67
2_ [] i [] l[] l I [] []mR I _ l HI im •
8812 66
3_6 R mill l l ! ni l l °"_l I l i i
8826 66
4_n [] ml [] l[] miD mE ill I In BE I ]
8841 66
5_ i illi In l I III i I i II I m
8855 65
6t l ll _ l [] II l I| RE l []
8869 65
7_ i 311[]lie ....[] HI III I II I mm I n
8884 65
8_ El ill[]] I [] i []11 I I IIIII [] I
8898 65
911i []ll_,l[] [] ml I In lnmli •
8912 1o_ [] roll[] 1 aB i []l l li In [] • 64
8998
15_II ill[] • • ill . i I I el I I i • • ill 64
16_ inn In I mumn_'"i ni nero m [] inn
9012 64
17t•ll[] l m i. [] l IN IN l i
9027 64
18_ In li m ..... • i i• II [] i i •
9041 64
19_11_ I [] ii in []IS In In l i n m []1
9055 In I{ I • | I I :Ill 65
9070
20I" l• i mI i:I I I! Iil II [] I I • 66
21rl [] n n
9084 I II I I InI I I I Ill 66
9113 2423_um
[][] ill :in u,*r_
ILl at • l l • 68
9141 26 J n I I I II In II I • I 71
9156 27 J I minim l • l el l i 73
9170 28 _J I I II In In l l l i 75
78
9184 29 I II i nimbi [] i_ • m
9199 30 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ......................................
j. ................ _ ,,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 83
9213
311 _ _ _ I I _ _ i _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _89
0 I g 5 4 5 6 7 8 q I0 il 12 15 14 IS 16 l? 18 19 20 21 82 23 24
COLOR CODE
[] MODULATION / CARRIER _ ABNORMAL MODULATION
[] CARRIER ONLY [] NO SIGNAL _ COMMAND
151
A.RIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
9227 I_ _ _ _ _ _# _ _ _ _ I00
9299 6 I I in _ I _ _] _i _I _ _ 97
83
9328 8 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ® n_ g_ _ _
79
9342 9 ) _ __ ) )_ ) _ _ ) ) ()_ ) )_ ) [] []11_
9356 lO IN )]1 iN In n • n mmmm • m im" 76
9370 11 In mmmmmm [] m • mm mmmmm • m mm 74
9385 12 III I III I II I • Ul • Imllm m m • 72
9399 13 ii i Ii i i• i ILl I II I I I I m II 71
9428 15 I I llnliilmmlm lm im • • m •, 69
9585 26. l mm
ml n Imm
m [] ml ill [] lm m m m l l l l 66
9600 66
27. m IIII I1• • ml i iiii iIm Im mm I
9614 66
28_ II I o).11 I II I ml B II [] []1 III Im iii iii i i......
9628 29_ ii i ii I Ii i • roll [] i I i ml iii i 66
0 I _ :5 4 5 6 _ 8 9 I0 Ii 12 1:5 14 IS 16 17 18 19 20 21 _22:524
COLOR CODE
• MOOULATION / CARRIER _ ABNORMAL MODULATION
152
APPENDIX B--SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFILE
12_11 • m| | H || ! IJ | I _ lUE I I I I I I 73
13i I I Illl Ill Ill I I • II II i I Ill I I 74
14 I I II I I | ; || | | g| W! || | i | i| I I __74
26_| | | _ | | | _| ...... I I II • | 67
/
100721
31_ _ il_ _i | | il_ |i I I l I I II |g | ! | Nil 65
|
0 I ?. 5 4 5 6 "/ 8 9 I0 II I;:) 13 14 15 16 IT 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
COLOR CODE.
• MODULATION / CARRIER @ ABNORMAL MODULATION
[] CARRIER ONLY ffi NO SIGNAL <_ COMMAND
153
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
GREENWICH TiME
MEAN
Pass o I 2 3 4 5 6 "r 8 :_ Io, 12_3_415_6_7J_19aoa 22a524 %
Oa'eI I J 1 ] I )) i I I I I I J J ] I JJ I ,he
No.
10087
10101
10115
a_nun i in li nI nu i nlnuiun •nm nnini
10130
41., ,_'"• .. .i , . I, ,.i ,,,. ,, = ,, .
10144
10158
10273 14j El ! II I I ll • HI El I
10287 154 El I I I I I IIH II II II II
10301 16 II I I I II II
10316 17 I IlI I I • II II I II I II I
1033( 18 III I I II I Ill [] I II ill|l •
1034_ 19] II II I I I II IN • I • I II •
10359 2oJI I I I I I III I I II I I
10373 21Jl II II II II ll I • • I II llll I I
10387 22J | I II I I • III III [] III I I ! I I III
vv'_Z
COLOR CODE
[] MODULATION / CARRIER _ ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY • NO SIGNAL _ COMMAND
154
APPENDIX B--SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFILE
No.
o _ 2 3 4 5 6 _ 8 9 _o, _2_s_415_6_7J__92021222s24 %
°°'e I I P
.....I I I ; I I I r I I I I I I I I P I I su°,,_,,
10516 1_ l El Ill I millime In n II
uv.J_ II _64
1053 2 II In iN IN il i IDLED iN [] Ul Il __64
1054 3 I I l l i nu i i I mn Ill II II II 64
10559 4 I I ill i li HI Ill Ill I • II II I 64
10574 5 I In I Hi I • l I El g II I I I II 63
10588 b- i II i II III El g I I I I g I __63
10602 7_ I I • i I I Ell I I I II I 64
1061 8_ II II III II I I IIIE I g • III g 64
1063 II II IIl I • [] IN uv-_o,If !1 |1 [] III l ! 64
1064_ lO_ n i n_._|i, -- i i lille I [] li II i
uv*Zoz
I 64
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION / CARRIER @ ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY m NO _SIGNAL <_ COMMAND
155
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
10989 II [] [] lg • I IN m m i Rim mm i _7
1032 II II I I I I II m i ill•i• • _0
1175 Ill l l • I!
uv'_,,
l Ii u [] [] m! mm 65
1190 I • II II III mm mmm [] m [] [] mmm m 65
1204 II I I II I immmlm mm mm i - 65
1218 IN l [] Ill m mm Ill i am mm ml . 65
1233 [] I II I l II lm m [] i II l 65
0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 LAST
PASS
COLOR CODE #I 139,
I
156
APPENDIX B--SATELLITE PERFORMANCE PROFILE
12,o71 I•mmmn uu .
lO_i a u_ • u nun _uo_°'k , In_,a
12_2_
I ,;_n nm m .,,m nn mmumnun_um [] aunnml_ u m_,a
COLOR CODE
• MODULATION / CARRI ER @ ABNORMAL MODULATION
• CARRIER ONLY • NO ,SIGNAL <_ COMMAND
157
ARIEL I: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE
12766 5_ I .. HI H • I • I • l i l • In In HI l _64
12780 6_ m_"'g|!el i l • I • i i • I am m morn |m n m 1__64
12795 7 i| I _m _ | • l°i' i l • I m m !m mm......
i i| 64
158
er U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1966 0--2;_3-Z70