CERES Gimbal Performance on Terra
The Terra satellite has been operating in orbit for 20 years. The Terra satellite is also called the flagship earth-observing satellite. The two Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System CERES instruments on board continue to function nominally. Their expected mission lifetime was 7 years. Critic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Lubricants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/8/8/79 |
| _version_ | 1797561220351393792 |
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| author | John C. Butler |
| author_facet | John C. Butler |
| author_sort | John C. Butler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Terra satellite has been operating in orbit for 20 years. The Terra satellite is also called the flagship earth-observing satellite. The two Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System CERES instruments on board continue to function nominally. Their expected mission lifetime was 7 years. Critical to their performance is the longevity of the scanning gimbals. This can be traced to the performance of the fluid-lubricated bearings. Two metrics are used to estimate their lifetime and health. Both lend themselves to readily available data and ease of interpretation. One is predicting the evaporative lubricant loss. This analysis indicates that the lubricant supply is adequate for the continual life of the gimbals. The second is trending the torque with time. Torque precursors are sampled quarterly. These data are converted to torque. Two types of torque behavior were examined. Contrasting torque data have supported the conclusion that the gimbals are operating nominally. This can be partially attributed to the design choices for the bearings and lubricant. The aim of this paper is to quantitatively describe the present health and expected life of the CERES gimbals on the Terra satellite. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:11:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-559fb36c9c544392af583c863ee5d794 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4442 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:11:58Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Lubricants |
| spelling | doaj.art-559fb36c9c544392af583c863ee5d7942023-11-20T08:02:37ZengMDPI AGLubricants2075-44422020-07-01887910.3390/lubricants8080079CERES Gimbal Performance on TerraJohn C. Butler0Consultant, 511 Cameo Drive, Hampton, VA 23666, USAThe Terra satellite has been operating in orbit for 20 years. The Terra satellite is also called the flagship earth-observing satellite. The two Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System CERES instruments on board continue to function nominally. Their expected mission lifetime was 7 years. Critical to their performance is the longevity of the scanning gimbals. This can be traced to the performance of the fluid-lubricated bearings. Two metrics are used to estimate their lifetime and health. Both lend themselves to readily available data and ease of interpretation. One is predicting the evaporative lubricant loss. This analysis indicates that the lubricant supply is adequate for the continual life of the gimbals. The second is trending the torque with time. Torque precursors are sampled quarterly. These data are converted to torque. Two types of torque behavior were examined. Contrasting torque data have supported the conclusion that the gimbals are operating nominally. This can be partially attributed to the design choices for the bearings and lubricant. The aim of this paper is to quantitatively describe the present health and expected life of the CERES gimbals on the Terra satellite.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/8/8/79space vehicleslubricanttorquebearings |
| spellingShingle | John C. Butler CERES Gimbal Performance on Terra Lubricants space vehicles lubricant torque bearings |
| title | CERES Gimbal Performance on Terra |
| title_full | CERES Gimbal Performance on Terra |
| title_fullStr | CERES Gimbal Performance on Terra |
| title_full_unstemmed | CERES Gimbal Performance on Terra |
| title_short | CERES Gimbal Performance on Terra |
| title_sort | ceres gimbal performance on terra |
| topic | space vehicles lubricant torque bearings |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/8/8/79 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johncbutler ceresgimbalperformanceonterra |