As a spacecraft performs its mission, various loads are connected to the spacecraft power bus in response to commands from an on board computer, a function called power distribution. For the Mariner Mark II set of planetary missions, the power bus is 30 volts dc and when loads are connected or disconnected, both the bus and power return side must be switched. In addition, the power distribution function must be immune to single point failures and, when power is first applied, all switches must be in a known state. Traditionally, these requirements have been met by electromechanical latching relays. This paper describes a solid state switch which not only satisfies the requirements but incorporates several additional features including soft turn on, programmable current trip point with noise immunity, instantaneous current limiting, and direct telemetry of load currents and switch status. A breadboard of the design has been constructed and some initial test results are included.
Spacecraft solid state power distribution switch
Festkoerper-Leistungsverteiler-Schalter fuer das Spacecraft
1986
5 Seiten, 8 Bilder
Conference paper
English
Spacecraft solid state power distribution switch
NTRS | 1986
|Development of a Solid State Power Switch for the Cassini Spacecraft
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1994
|Solid State Switch for High Reliability Spacecraft Use
NTRS | 1995
|