Space seeker motion test method
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorAlan F. Vesterdal
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A space seeker motion test system comprises a rough vacuum chamber including a space seeker holding fixture, a space chamber including a target to be imaged by a space seeker disposed in the space seeker holding fixture, a bellows coupling the space seeker holding fixture to the space chamber, a gate valve providing selective fluidic communication between the space seeker holding fixture and an internal volume of the space chamber through the bellows, a first vacuum pump configured to maintain the rough vacuum chamber at a rough vacuum, and a second vacuum pump configured to maintain the space chamber at high vacuum.
Claims13
A space seeker motion test system comprising:
- a rough vacuum chamber including a space seeker holding fixture;
- a space chamber including a target to be imaged by a space seeker disposed in the space seeker holding fixture;
- a bellows coupling the space seeker holding fixture to the space chamber;
- a gate valve providing selective fluidic communication between the space seeker holding fixture and an internal volume of the space chamber through the bellows;
- a first vacuum pump configured to maintain the rough vacuum chamber at a rough vacuum;
- and
- a second vacuum pump configured to maintain the space chamber at high vacuum.
A method of testing a space seeker, the method comprising:
- mounting the space seeker within a space seeker holding fixture disposed within a rough vacuum chamber, the space seeker holding fixture selectively fluidly coupled to a space chamber including a black body target by a bellows and a gate valve;
- reducing a pressure in the space chamber to a high vacuum;
- cooling the space chamber to a cryogenic temperature;
- reducing the pressure in the rough vacuum chamber to a rough vacuum;
- and
- opening the gate valve to provide a line of sight between the space seeker and black body target.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.