An overview of the MSTI Spacecraft Program and the attitude-control system

Rob McEwen
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Tuesday, November 24, 1998
12:00 Noon—Pacific Forum

The Miniature Sensor Technology Integration (MSTI) Program consisted of a series of 3 spacecraft, developed and launched over a period of 7 years. The objective was Earth mapping in medium and short-wave infrared. The vehicles were in low-Earth, Sun-synchronous orbit.

All three vehicles were 3 axis-stabilized. MSTI3 had hot-gas thrusters as well as reaction wheels for attitude control. It had a Sun sensor and a star tracker for attitude reference. GPS in combination with on-board orbit propagation provided position information.

A large part of the flight code was produced through graphical design and automatic code generation, which accelerated the software-design process. MSTI3 was designed, constructed, tested, and launched in 24 months, a remarkably short time for a vehicle of this caliber.

I will talk about the MSTI Program (and in particular the attitude-control system) and will show a video clip of the MSTI3 launch, filmed from the second stage of the Pegasus, giving a real birds-eye view.

Next: Seismic structure and the crustal magma plumbing system, MAR, 35°N