the nose cone separates, antenna paddles on the daughter and mother will be deployed. Then, approximately 90 W of power will be transmitted between the two sections separated by only a few meters. A few minutes later, the daughter will be separated from the mother at less than 5 cm/sec. During this final phase, power will be transmitted to the daughter section as the two spacecraft gradually move apart. The phased array on the mother section will be used to steer the beam around the daughter spacecraft. Interestingly, the MINIX transmitter payload will be tested on the ground by using it to track and power a small electrical airplane flying at 15 m. This type of activity is essential to minimising program costs, as noted in Section 2. Europe might want to consider an equivalent experiment in the event that suitable orbital launch opportunities are unavailable or too expensive. Both the MASER and MAXUS sounding rockets would be ideal for this task (Figure 6.3- 2). with the MAXUS providing at least 14 minutes of microgravity time.
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