The ALEXIS small satellite project: better, faster, cheaper faces reality

Author

Priedhorsky, William C. ; Bloch, Jeffrey J. ; Wallin, Steven P. ; Armstrong, W. Thomas ; Siegmund, Oswald H W ; Griffee, Jim ; Fleeter, R.

Author_Institution

Los Alamos Nat. Lab., NM, USA

Volume

40

Issue

4

fYear

1993

fDate

8/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

863

Lastpage

873

Abstract

ALEXIS is a miniature satellite and carries both soft X-ray astrophysics and ionospheric physics experiments. The soft X-ray experiment is a novel set of wide-angle, normal incidence telescopes which scan half the sky every satellite rotation. BLACKBEARD is a broadband receiver and digitizer designed to study ionospheric propagation in the 25-175-MHz band. The spin-stabilized spacecraft is compact and efficient; it provides 50 W to the payload while consuming 10 W itself. ALEXIS will fly on a Pegasus air-launched booster. The ALEXIS integration history and lessons learned therein are discussed

Keywords

X-ray astronomy; artificial satellites; ionospheric measuring apparatus; 10 W; 25 to 175 MHz; 50 W; ALEXIS integration history; ALEXIS small satellite project; BLACKBEARD; Pegasus air-launched booster; broadband receiver; digitizer; ionospheric physics experiments; ionospheric propagation; miniature satellite; normal incidence telescopes; payload; soft X-ray astrophysics; spin-stabilized spacecraft; wide-angle; Artificial satellites; Command and control systems; Costs; History; Laboratories; Payloads; Physics; Satellite antennas; Space vehicles; Telescopes;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.256675

Filename

256675