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APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE
5 (ATS-5)
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A flight IPS, identical to the one flown on
ATS-4, was launched on ATS-5 on August 12,
1969. The purpose of this flight was to
demonstrate NSSK of a geosynchronous
satellite. Once in geosynchronous orbit the
spacecraft could not be despun as planned,
and thus the spacecraft gravity gradient
stabilization could not be implemented. The
spacecraft spin rate was about 76
revolutions per minute, and this caused an
effective 4g acceleration on the cesium feed
system. The high g-loading on the cesium
feed system caused flooding of the discharge
chamber, and normal operation of the
thruster with ion beam extraction could not
be performed. The IPS was able to be
operated as a neutral plasma source, without
high-voltage ion extraction, along with the
wire neutralizer to examine spacecraft
charging effects. The neutralizer was also
operated by itself to provide electron
injection for the spacecraft charging
experiments.
The preceding was an excerpt from:
Sovey, J. S., Rawlin, V. K., and Patterson,
M. J.: "Ion Propulsion Development
Projects in U. S.: Space Electric Rocket
Test 1 to Deep Space 1." Journal of
Propulsion and Power, Vol. 17, No. 3,
May-June 2001, pp. 517-526.
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