HISTORY - Page 54
means to meet such multiple requirements as
simplicity, reliability, mobility, jamming resistance,
and availability of components. Work assigned to this
system involved constraining the system along a
ballistic trajectory from liftoff to impact, and the
principal component that performed this function was
the gyro-stabilized platform (ST-90). Important to and
located on the ST-90 were three air-bearing supported
accelerometers that measured acceleration on the
missile in three directions. Primarily, these were
needed to detect and act on external forces that might
Influence the trajectory. To some extent, certain forces
such as standard thrust of the propulsion system,
aerodynamic drag, and separation forces could be
determined before firing, and, if the missile had only
these to contend with, the trajectory would be
standard and the G&C problem simple. But non-
standard forces, which were quite unpredictable from
either points in time or space, did exist and some
means had to be available to start a proper reaction.
Examples of the non-standard type include wind gusts
and deviations in thrust. Thus, the problem at hand,
when occasioned by these external forces, was to
bring the missile from its actual trajectory to that
desired in order to assure a CPE of not greater than
1,500 meters. Since guidance was not feasible during
the re-entry phase, these problems had to be solved
before nose cone separation
70
.
There were also several other major components that
made up a part of the G&C system. One of these was
the guidance computer, which was packaged outside
the ST-90 because of weight. This unit received its
input from a gyro accelerometer, and was concerned
with distance and speed information. A programming
device was responsible for tilting the missile in pitch
and compensating for environmental conditions
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70. Haeussermann, Dr. Walter, the JUP All-Inertial G&C Scheme, 5 Dec 56, Hist Off files.