STUDY OF ELECTROMAGNETIC TECHNIQUES FOR SPACE NAVIGATION.

Abstract

A series of experiments was conducted to investigate the application of template bpectroscopy techniques to the problem of measuring the velocity of space vehicles with respect to natural sources of radiation. A Bausch and Lomb spectrograph was first used with the sun as a source and a template vibrating at 10 cps to provide ac detection of the match point. It was found that hand engraved templates with narrow lines 20 microns in width gave best results because of the extreme contrast obtainable. The measurement uncertainty of this instrument, which was noise limited, averaged 164 meters/ sec. A second spectrograph, designed to be used with a 24 inch telescope for similar work with stellar sources, was also constructed during this period. This instrument uses a 500 cps template vibrator in an attempt to eliminate atmobpheric noise. The noise level with the stellar spectrograph using the sun as the source is reduced to approximately 60 meters/sec. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1963
Accession Number
AD0422552

Entities

People

  • D. L. Birx
  • R. G. Franklin
  • R. H. Field
  • W. C. Reisener Jr.

Organizations

  • Franklin Institute

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Contrast
  • Detection
  • Measurement
  • Navigation
  • Radiation
  • Space Navigation
  • Spacecraft
  • Spectrographs
  • Telescopes
  • Template Patterns
  • Uncertainty
  • Vehicles

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Acoustics.
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  • Spectroscopy.

Technology Areas

  • Space