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HIGH POWER ELECTROTHERMAL DISCHARGE TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES AN ATTRACTIVE APPROACH FOR ACCELERATING SDI KEW PROJECTILES AND FOR SDI SPACE PROPULSION. STORED ENERGY IS USED TO HEAT SUITABLE PLASMA MATERIALS IN A LARGE L/D TUBE ON MICROSECOND TIME SCALES, CREATING A HIGH PRESSURE,LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT JET. REPETITIVE OPERATION OF THESE JETS REQUIRESDEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH STRESS INSULATOR, RESISTANT TO THE ...

CURRENT STUDIES CONCENTRATE ON GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) AS A SPACECRAFT ATTITUDE DETERMINATION TOOL. TWO GPS ANTENNAS RECEIVING THE SAME SIGNAL CAN COMPARE THEIR RELATIVE PHASES TO DETERMINE THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE TWO ANTENNAS AND THE GPS SATELLITE. BY COMPUTING THE ANGLE TO THREE OR MORE SATELLITES, THE COMPLETE INERTIAL ORIENTATION MAY BE DETERMINED. APPLYING ADVANCES IN GPS INTERFEROMETRY ...

THE SUCCESSFUL GROWTH OF GAAS ON SILICON SUBSTRATES USING DOUBLE SELECTIVE LIQUID EPITAXIAL (DSLE) PROCESS HAS RECENTLY BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. THESE RESULTS SET THE STAGE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXTREMELY USEFUL MATERIAL--LARGE PLANAR WAFERS OF SMOOTH GAAS ON SILICON. DOUBLE SELECTIVE LIQUID PHASE EPITAXY COULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY LATTICE MISMATCH AND DIFFERENTIAL THERMAL EXP ...

A HIGHLY SENSITIVE AND DIRECTIONAL NUCLEAR RADIATION DETECTION SYSTEM,RESPONDING TO LOW-LEVEL GAMMA-RADIATION AND LOW NEUTRON FLUX, WOULD BEIMPORTANT IN THE AREA OF DECOY DISCRIMINATION AND/OR AS A WARNING DEVICE AGAINST THREAT PARTICLE BEAM WEAPONS. FOR EXAMPLE, ACTIVE ILLUMINATION OF A POTENTIAL SPACE THREAT WITH A PARTICLE BEAM REQUIRESA HIGHLY DIRECTIONAL SENSOR FOR DISCRIMINATION PURPOSES. ON ...

AN ON-ORBIT PROPULSION CAPACITY IS REQUIRED FOR STRATEGIC DEFENSE THATFEATURES HIGH EFFICIENCY AT A SPECIFIC IMPULSE OF 1000-3000 SECONDS. THIS PROPULSION IS REQUIRED FOR ORBIT TRANSFER, ORBITAL MANEUVERING AND STATION-KEEPING MISSIONS. THE PULSED ELECTROTHERMAL (PET) THRUSTER SEEMS PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE FOR THESE APPLICATIONS, AND HASPREVIOUSLY APPROACHED THE REQUIRED PERFORMANCE LEVELS WITH WA ...

NEW AND INNOVATIVE NONEQUILIBRIUM MATERIALS FOR VARIOUS SPACE STRUCTURES ARE NEEDED FOR STRATEGIC DEFENSE. ONE AREA WHERE LITTLE ATTENTION HAS BEEN FOCUSSED IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOLID LUBRICANTS. THE POTENTIAL USE IS BEING EXPLORED OF HIGH LEAD BEARING COPPER ALLOYS(UP TO 50% LEAD) AS BEARING MATERIALS; BATTERY GRIDS THAT WOULD REPLACE THE CURRENTLY USED LEAD ALLOYS; AND POSSIBLE COATINGS FOR HIG ...

INCREASES IN SOLAR CELL EFFICIENCY CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH TANDEM MULTI-JUNCTION STRUCTURES TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE AND SCALE OF SPACE PHOTOVOLTAIC CONCENTRATORS. THE "TOP SOLAR CELL" TANDEM APPROACH COULD INCREASE ENERGY CONVERSION EFFICIENCY BY AS MUCH AS 100%. A SELF-SUPPORTING ALUMINUM-GALLIUM-ARSENIDE (ALGAAS) TOP SOLAR CELL IS BEING DEVELOPED FOR MECHANICAL ATTACHMENT TO A SILICON CONCENTRAT ...

EXISTING METALLIC-TYPE CONTACTS ON GALLIUM ARSENIDE (GAAS) HAVE NOT BEEN STABLE AT HIGH TEMPERATURES BECAUSE OF INTERDIFFUSION AND/OR ALLOYING OF THE GAAS TOP LAYER. HIGH TEMPERATURE CONTACTS TO GAAS SPACE PHOTOLTAIC CELLS ARE BEING DEVELOPED BASED ON THE FORMATION OF A HIGHLY-STABLE INTERMEDIATE DEGENERATE SEMICONDUCTOR LAYER BETWEEN THE GAAS AND A HIGH TEMPERATURE METAL ALLOY. THE INTERMEDIATE S ...

UNIFORM LARGE AREA, DEVICE QUALITY INDIUM PHOSPHIDE (INP) EPITAXIAL LAYERS ON INSULATING SUBSTRATES COULD LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW GENERATION OF PRODUCIBLE, RADIATION-HARDENED MICROELECTRONIC AND OPTOELECTRONIV INTEGRATED CIRCUITS. INP ALLOYS OFFER THE ADVANTAGES OF: PROVEN RESISTANCE TO RADIATION DAMAGE; LOWER SURFACE RECOMBINATION THAN GAAS; HIGH PEAK ELECTRON VELOCITY; AND BANDGAPS THAT ...

HIGH TEMPERATURE (>600 DEGREES CELSIUS) INDIUM PHOSPHIDE (INP) SPACE SOLAR CELLS ARE BEING DEVELOPED TO ELIMINATE THEPROBLEMS, SURFACE DECOMPOSITION AND CONTACT FAILURE, ENCOUNTERED WHEN INP SOLAR CELLS ARE EXPOSED TO HIGH TEMPERATURES. KEY TO THIS PROGRAM ARE THE USE OF AN ENCAPSULANT LAYER TO ARREST SURFACE DECOMPOSITION AND A HIGHLY-STABLE INTERMEDIATE DEGENERATE SEMICONDUCTOR CONTACT SYSTEM DE ...