Effects of exhaust plasmas upon signal transmission to and from rocket-powered vehicles
- 1 January 1966
- journal article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in Proceedings of the IEEE
- Vol. 54 (9), 1134-1146
- https://doi.org/10.1109/proc.1966.5059
Abstract
This paper presents theoretical and experimental results for characterizing the signal transmission disturbances caused by the presence of rocket-exhaust plasmas in the propagation medium betwem a ground station and a rocket-powered vehicle. The object of this characterization is to provide quantitative data on the propagation effects of the exhaust plasma that are of critical importance in the design of space tele-instrumentation and communication systems. Basic propagation effects, including multipath and forward and back scatter are discussed, and important gross signal transmission parameters are defined and expressed. The general discussion of channel characteristics is followed by a presentation and discussion of typical results of measurements obtained from the Saturn test series. Three major effects of the presence of the exhaust plasma upon signal transmission are emphasized. These are the possibility of a large drop in received signal level, a significant reduction of coherence bandwidth caused by time-variant multipath, and an unusually high fading rate. The bearing of these effects upon the design and demodulation of signals for links that include a rocket-powered terminal or relay vehicle is discussed.Keywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Control of Plasma Collision Frequency for Alleviation of Signal DegradationIEEE Transactions on Communications, 1966
- Rocket exhaust effects on radio frequency transmission.Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 1966
- A survey of ionospheric effects upon earth-space radio propagationProceedings of the IEEE, 1964
- A Theory of Radio Scattering in the TroposphereProceedings of the IRE, 1950