Abstract
A gyroscopic strapdown Inertial Reference Assembly (IRA) was developed to enable sub arc-second pointing control of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) Satellite. This paper provides a design description and detailed orbital performance evaluation of this state-of-the-art gyro system. The IRA provides a three-axis attitude reference utilizing six single-degree-of-freedom gyroscopes operated with pulse rebalance electronics (any three of which can support the mission). The IRA was designed to such stringent design goals as providing an attitude reference with a maximum of one arc-second error over a thirty minute time period (typical experiment duration), an output quantization of 0.01 arc-seconds, and a scale factor linearity of better than 100 ppm. The design techniques and test verification methods used to obtain these levels of performance are briefly described. The IUE Satellite has been in continuous operation since January 28, 1978. Spacecraft telemetry data is examined to evaluate IRA orbital performance; and, comparisons to previously demonstrated performance in the laboratory are provided.
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