Space Power Systems Engineering

Without electric power, no space vehicle has utility or purpose. There are many vital functions in a space vehicle which depend upon a continuous supply of reliable electric power: guidance; navigation data computation, reduction, and handling; life support; environmental control; physical measurements acquisition; sensing; attitude control; command and control; communications; etc. Within the power system there are various interfaces of mutual reaction between the source and the consumers of electric power, and these are generally sensitive in nature. These complex and subtle interactions lead to a necessity for elaborate systems engineering in the application of space power supplies.

This volume is devoted to the presentation of current technical problems and their solutions and achievements in the engineering of space power systems. It is a systematic compilation of the most pertinent of the papers presented at the AIAA Third Biennial Electric Power Systems Conference, September 1-4, 1964, Philadelphia, Pa., all of them reviewed and revised.