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In-Orbit Performance of the MWRI Scanning MechanismsScanning Equipment supporting the Millimeter Wave Radiometer Instrument (MWRI) are flying in a sunsynchronized orbit of 850-km altitude with an inclination of 98.8 deg on the FY-3 meteorological satellite (FY = Feng Yun, Wind and Cloud). MWRI is a linearly polarized, ten-channel passive Radiometer; it measures precipitation and water clouds, sea ice, snow/water equivalent, drought and flood index, land temperature and soil moisture. Following the FY3-A, the FY3-B Satellite was launched in autumn 2010. Since that time, the Scanning Equipment was continuously operated. During the last three and a half years in orbit, the Scanning Mechanism has executed about 65 million revolutions, while the Scan Compensation Mechanism (SCM) - used for momentum compensation - has already successfully executed more than one billion revolutions. During the commissioning phase of the instrument and during the first operation phase, random torque spikes, which manifested themselves as a motor current increase, were observed in the Scan Drive Mechanism, whereas the Scan Compensation drive operated nominally from the beginning. The result of the root cause investigations performed in order to isolate the issue, and the consequences for the follow-on MWRI equipment which was successfully launched by end of September 2013 (now flying on the FY 3-C Spacecraft), are discussed.
Document ID
20150004048
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Schmid, Manfred
(Airbus Defence and Space Friedrichshafen, Germany)
Jun, Miao
(Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Research Inst. Shanghai, People's Republic of China)
Shuang, Yu
(Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Research Inst. Shanghai, People's Republic of China)
Date Acquired
April 2, 2015
Publication Date
May 1, 2014
Publication Information
Publication: The 42nd Aerospace Mechanism Symposium
Subject Category
Spacecraft Instrumentation And Astrionics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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