A general purpose, two-axis, pointing-type payload has been built for use in the tethered balloon program at Holloman AFB. It is capable of carrying an experiment having directional requirements, and weighing up to 100 pounds. When attached to the flying lines of an aerodynamically shaped balloon and held by a single tether, it will keep an axis within the payload pointed toward a target light on the ground in a daylight operation with a precision of + or - 0.75 degrees when elevated to 10,000 feet. Three modes of operation are possible, namely a stare mode, a search mode, and a pointing mode. In the stare mode the payload heading is set by commands from the ground, and the search feature permits an area surrounding the stare position to be scanned as a means of finding the target light. When the tracker finds the target the pointing axis in the payload will be continuously directed toward that target. Features were included which allow the payload to be readily carried on the tines of a forklift during the launch operation. Only a single additional step is needed in the regularly used launch procedure, that being to arrest the let-up, anchor the system in a particular way, insert the payload, and continue the let-up in the normal way. Capability of the system was demonstrated in a successful test at Holloman in September 1981 while carrying a hitchhike experiment that measured IR transmissions through the atmosphere. (Author)
Pointing Payload for Single Tether Balloons
1982
106 pages
Report
No indication
English
Aircraft , Balloons , Payload , Ground position indicators , Aiming , Test equipment , Airborne , Azimuth , Elevation , Axes , Light , Targets , Target detection , Tracking , Searching , Scanning , Launching , Systems engineering , Electric wire , Circuits , Apertures , Tethering
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