The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 21, 1998
Filed:
Sep. 13, 1996
James J Fallon, Bronxville, NY (US);
Gerald Falbel, Stamford, CT (US);
Richard W Rhyins, Ridgefield, CT (US);
Ithaco Space Systems, Inc., Ithaca, NY (US);
Abstract
An earth horizon sensor on board an orbiting spacecraft is designed to produce four (4) scans across the earth at geosynchronous altitudes using only two non-visible wavelength (infrared) detectors. The four scans are essentially parallel and permit the earth center to be offset from the null axis of the earth sensor permitting the offset pointing of high gain communication. By providing four scans using only two detectors, components are minimized and reliability is improved. The four scans are generated with only two detectors by using both the front and rear surfaces of a rotating scanning mirror.