New antenna feed revitalizes Space Shuttle tracker at NASA Edwards

An account is given of the upgrading of a 12-ft-diameter single-channel monopulse tracking system, which had been relegated to slaved backup status at NASA Edwards, to support research flights for Ames Dryden Research Center and for tracking orbital passes of the Space Shuttle and Shuttle landings both at Edwards and at White Sands. The improved system is now a stand-alone telemetry tracking system. A new conical scanning feed (known as Radscan) replaces the single channel monopulse feed in the upgraded system. Where previously the system would not autotrack at elevation angles below 5 degrees, it now automatically acquires the Space Shuttle when it appears on the horizon and autotracks from approximately 2 degrees in elevation to touchdown, and does so virtually unattended.