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Updating Gimbal Actuators for the Long Journey to SaturnThe Cassini mission requires extraordinary life and reliability from the linear servo-actuators which position the spacecraft's redundant rocket engines. Both commercial actuators and existing in-house actuator designs were studied for this application. Ultimately a device inherited from JPL's Mariner and Viking missions to Mars was selected because of its close match to functional requirements and its flight pedigree. However, several design improvements were necessary to meet life and reliability goals. Special attention was focused on reliability testing of the motor and mechanism at all stages of procurement and assembly because a brush type of DC motor was retained from the old design. These improvements and, in particular, efforts to develop new component sources are discussed in this paper.
Document ID
19970021632
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Iskenderian, Theodore
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Joffe, Benjamin
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Litty, Edward
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Date Acquired
August 17, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1997
Publication Information
Publication: Thirty-first Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium
Subject Category
Mechanical Engineering
Accession Number
97N22560
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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