All in a Daze Work: "Assured Communications"

This week we take a quick look at the strange and wonderful hardware behind the entire world's wireless communications networks. I have selected just a few photos from the net to showcase some of the most cutting edge communication technology in use (well, the unclassified stuff anyway). And when I say use, I want you to think of every wireless device you know of…all the cell phones, satellite radio, satellite TV, military communications, NOAA weather, the entire FAA air traffic control… the list goes on.
The images below are a mix of ground and space communications terminals, some are curently in use, some have not been launched yet, some are just artist rendering of the actual system - but all are examples of what I have been working on for the last two years. 


Been working on many different permutations of this military antenna - one goes on the back of a HMMWV (humvee)


Space satellite antenna - 
Yup, I get to dress in a funny smock and hairnet when working on these in the hi-rel area - stylish I know.


This is like the one we launched in late 2008 from Kennedy Space Center.
 


Another one we have permutated a few times - sort of a special system for me because it was the first one I analyzed for performance optimization using FEM software when I started at Harris.   

  


  


I was working on this one a few months back and it will be launching it this year.
 


This one is HUGE...and still a work in progress. 
  

I think the most amazing thing about the space antennas that we build (the gold mesh part and boom in the pictures above) is their weight - or lack thereof. The last one I was working on was larger than 40ft in diameter and weighed less then me...
Another amazing part is the precision that they must meet before being launched. The gold mesh surface (larger than 40ft in diamater  - and thats a small one) must be a perfect parabola to within a few hundreths of an inch - and that is what I do. I generally refine an adjustment plan to assure that the surface meets specifications.
And that double duty (space and ground) update is another look into what a 'Rocket Scientist' might work on in the course of a 'Daze Work'.

-TheNuge*

3 comments:

Ian Taylor said...

That's pretty flippen sweet bro. I noticed that you didn't say how much you weigh though... hahaha.

Keith and Aimee Nugent said...

well, I can't be too heavy since fat is lighter then muscle... haha

Ian Taylor said...

Ooh, you're a quick one ;).