Title :
TOPEX/Poseidon electrical power system-autonomous operation
Author :
Chetty, P.R.K. ; Richardson, R. ; Sherwood, Robert ; Deligiannis, Frank
Author_Institution :
Orbital Sci. Corp., Germantown, MD, USA
Abstract :
The main objective of the TOPEX/Poseidon Satellite is to monitor the worlds oceans for scientific study of weather and climate prediction, coastal storm warning and maritime safety. The operational conditions of this satellite imposed challenging requirements for the on-board electrical power system (EPS). The power system is designed to maintain a certain level of autonomy. This paper presents the autonomous operations planned, their on-orbit performance and how some of the operations were modified as certain unpredictable circumstances were discovered
Keywords :
artificial satellites; photovoltaic power systems; power system control; solar cell arrays; solar cells; space vehicle power plants; TOPEX/Poseidon Satellite; autonomous operation; climate prediction; coastal storm warning; electrical power system; maritime safety; oceans monitoring; on-orbit performance; operational conditions; weather prediction; Batteries; Oceans; Power system analysis computing; Power system measurements; Power systems; Propulsion; Regulators; Satellites; Sea measurements; Sun;
Conference_Titel :
Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, 1996. IECEC 96., Proceedings of the 31st Intersociety
Conference_Location :
Washington, DC
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3547-3
DOI :
10.1109/IECEC.1996.552883
