Fig. 3 Protomodel of the thermodynamic generator for TDPEC Fig. 4 DC arcjet testing in the laboratory Fig. 5 Phased array antenna developed for METS Fig. 6 Concept otSTEX experiment with SFU free flyer ser beam of 1.000 W maximum is transmitted to a free-flying laser-assisted propulsion unit released from the SFU. The maximum range will be 350 m. The laser power received by the propulsion unit and acceleration generated by the laser propulsion are measured to evaluate the laser transmission and propulsion performance. According to the mission requirements analysis. three groups of experiments; TDPGE/EPEX (high power generation and transportation!. METS/STEX (microwave transmission and environment), and ASREX/LPE (robotics and laser technologies ) are currently considered as candidates for the SFU Energy Mission. (2) ISY METS Project A rocket experiment version of the METS is planned as one of the Space Power Test Projects (SPTP) for the forthcoming International Space Year (ISY). 1992. The mission profile will be similar to the MINIX experiment performed in 1983. One objective of this experiment is an insitu demonstration of microwave energy transmission in space. A microwave energy beam of 936 W will be transmitted from a mother section of the rocket to a daughter section using a newly developed phased- array antenna. The METS rocket experiment will be an important step in establishing the technologies for the future Solar Power Satellite (SPS). Another objective is to stud}' the associated plasma effects of the high power mi- crowaxe energy beam in the space envi-' ronment. METS will investigate the nonlinear interaction between intense microwaves and the space plasma, which was discovered by the preliminary microwave interaction experiment (MINIX) in 1983. The wave spectrum obsened in the previous experiment proved the excitation of plasma waves. Two types of plasma waves were excited, around the odd half of the local electron cyclotron frequency and around the local electron plasma frequency. An ISAS sounding rocket of mother/ daughter separation type will be employed for the METS experiment. The mother section is used for the microwave high- power transmission, while the daughter section carries a pilot signal transmitter, a microwave receiver, and a diagnostic package. The transmitting antenna consists of four antenna paddles, each composed of 18 microstrip antennas. The antenna paddles are deployed in a cross shape on the top of the mother section. Each of the circular microstrip antennas is directly connected to an F-class FET amplifier and a 4-bil digital phase shifter. The diagnostic package consists of four scientific instruments measuring electron density, electron temperature, and plasma waves in a wide range from ELF to HF to study the nonlinear interactions between the high power microwaves and (he ionospheric plasma.
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