Other

Hughes Electronics Corporation

David A Kaufman

John J Vajo

Weldon S Williamson

Daniel Benesch

A spacecraft having a pair of asymmetrical side-mounted antennas that are designed to control the net angular momentum of the spacecraft over a twenty-four hour period. One of the side-mounted antennas is a dual surface antenna having a front surface that has a reflective sunshield overlay thereon and a rear surface. The rear surface of this side mounted antenna has a reflective blanket attached directly to the rear surface of the antenna that has low-&agr; properties to control the solar or radiation force acting on the spacecraft.

Apparatus for spacecraft angular momentum control through the use of reflective thermal blankets

A tow sub that has a bullet-shaped shell to cover the front of a diver. The shell is large enough to be comfortable for a diver lying in the shell. The shell has lenses that provide ample vision for the diver. The tow sub has two independent control surfaces. The first, is a fixed dive plane that can be attached to the top, sides or bottom of the shell. This dive plane acts as a diving plane. The second is a pivoting rear elevator control surface that is mounted on a tail boom. The pivoting elevator is controlled from within the shell by a yoke controller. The tow sub has a tow hook that has a quick release mechanism. Using this mechanism, the diver can disconnect the sub from the tow line from within the shell. When disconnected in this way, the sub stops and slowly rises to the surface.

Tow sub

A plasma source uses radio frequency electromagnetic radiation to ionize and dissociate gas molecules into reactive species within a plasma generation tube and emits the species to react with and remove contaminants from surfaces on a spacecraft. The source of the radiation is an antenna brazed to the outside of the plasma generation tube. Permanent magnets ring the plasma generation tube within a metallic housing to generate a magnetic field. Pole pieces are provided to improve the strength of the field and to improve its uniformity and axial orientation within the plasma generation tube. A plenum and a gas diffusing element distribute gas entering the plasma generation tube.

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South Pasadena, CA, United States of America

David A Kaufman