TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE NEAR SPACECRAFT

The launch of the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft on February 17, 1996 was the first in NASA's series of Discovery-class mi ssions. The spacecraft is designed to rendezvous with and eventually o rbit the asteroid 433 Eros. The spacecraft telecommunications system i s centered about two redundant X-band transponder systems that provide the command, telemetry, and tracking functions. Despite a very tight development schedule, a significant amount of new technology has been used in the system. Included in the design are the most recent develop ments in transponder hardware, an X-band solid state power amplifier ( a deep space ''first''), and efficient microstrip patch antennas. spac ecraft emergencies, a microstrip antenna is used as part of a unique e arth acquisition algorithm. Potential areas for future technology impr ovements are also discussed. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.