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Author
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Topic: Mercury-Redstone AZUSA antenna
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jano
New Member Posts: 1
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Aug 2021
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posted 09-23-2021 05:49 PM
  
I have been researching the Mercury-Redstone project for a some time, and some specific details about the Redstone booster are almost impossible to find. One of them is a picture of the AZUSA antenna. This red/orange painted square antenna is located on the lower edge of the aft section's checker board. It is visible on many long photos, but I haven't found any detailed close-up pictures. Any thought/help would be much appreciated. |
NavyPilot
Member Posts: 91
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2015
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posted 09-24-2021 05:59 PM
Are you speaking of the TLM-18 antenna? I wasn't aware that "Azusa" referenced anything other than the ground station. |
MOL
Member Posts: 177
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 09-24-2021 11:54 PM
Indeed AZUSA references the transponder located in the instrument section of the Redstone booster. This excerpt is from the Mercury Redstone Project Summary: AZUSA TRANSPONDER:AZUSA is an automatic, high-precision, all-weather electronic trajectory measuring system based upon the interferometer principle. It was used in trajectory and impact prediction. It consisted of a short baseline ground station tied in with an IBM 709 computer Model and a vehicle-borne Coherent Carrier. I have always seen it shown in all caps — not sure if it was an acronym? But it does not seem to reference anything related to a location of a ground site. |
NavyPilot
Member Posts: 91
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2015
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posted 09-25-2021 09:02 AM
It's in the written record that the system was named after the California city where Convair built it. Not a lot of history out there, though, unless someone can find a specialty site.
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oly
Member Posts: 1454
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 09-27-2021 10:14 PM
The AZUSA antenna is identified on this page of the Mercury-Redstone Project document. |
oly
Member Posts: 1454
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 09-29-2021 12:57 AM
The best bet may be to search original launch and test colour images that show such detail. How many genuine Mercury Redstone rockets exist in original condition that are on display and have not been repainted? |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1816
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 09-29-2021 08:45 AM
The Atlas AZUSA antenna was a cone mounted on a tripod just above the booster package/sustainer interface. |
oly
Member Posts: 1454
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 09-30-2021 01:12 AM
There is a black and white photo available from Alamy stock images showing the small cone antenna mounted on a standoff, in a rig used for vibration testing of the antenna. |
NavyPilot
Member Posts: 91
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2015
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posted 06-23-2023 09:48 AM
Off topic for Mercury, but this page has images of the wedge-shaped Azusa antenna for Saturn IB and V IUS. |
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