APEX LOGO

Advanced Photovoltaic and Electronic Experiments - APEX

 STP LOGO
Unofficial home page for the APEX mission.*
Created by Frank Knight , January 1997 - Last Modified: May 4, 2005
APEX Deployment Test

APEX Description:

The DoD Space Test Program's Advanced Photovoltaic And Electronic Experiments (APEX) satellite was launched on the Pegasus air-launched booster in August of 1994. It carried three Department of Defense experiments which were designed to test the effects of space exposure and radiation on solar arrays and electronic circuits. It was the last Pegasus mission to use the B-52 carrier aircraft.

The primary experiment on APEX is known as the Photovoltaic Array Space Power Plus Diagnostics (PASP-PLUS) experiment. PASP-PLUS was developed by the Geophysics Directorate of the Air Force Phillips Laboratory (now the Air Force Research Laboratory ) to provide a space test and demonstration of 12 advanced photovoltaic arrays.

Two secondary experiments were also flown. The Cosmic Ray Upset Experiment was sponsored by the Air Force's Space Systems Division (now Space and Missile Systems Center) and developed by the Goddard Space Flight Center. The Thin-film Ferroelectric Experiment (FERRO) was developed by the Naval Postgraduate School .

These experiments were flown on a PegaStar spacecraft bus developed for STP by the Orbital Sciences Corporation. Systems Engineering support to the Air Force for the APEX Mission was provided by The Aerospace Corporation.

Further information about the mission and the satellite may be found using the hyper-links shown below.

APEX Information:

USSPACECOM Catalog No.: 23191
International Designation Code: 1994-046-A
Orbit: 349 x 1,823 km, 69.9�

APEX Technical Papers:

Acroread logo The Space Test Program APEX Mission Satellite by Frank Knight
(Technical Paper for the 1992 Conference on Small Satellites at Utah State University - PDF format.)

Acroread logo The Space Test Program APEX Mission Satellite - Flight Results by Frank Knight
(Technical Paper for the 1996 Conference on Small Satellites at Utah State University - PDF format.)

Acroread logo On-Orbit NiH2 Battery Performance and Problem Solving on The APEX Spacecraft by Matt Machlis
(Technical Paper for the 1996 Conference on Small Satellites at Utah State University - PDF format.)

APEX Photo Gallery:

APEX Deployment Test

Click on the picture to explore the Photo Gallery.


APEX Deployment Video:

APEX Deployment Video

Click on the picture to download Capt. Mike Van Riet's Launch & Deployment Animation.


World Wide Web Information Concerning APEX:

Phillips Laboratory Fact Sheet:
  • PASP-PLUS

  • Astonauix.com Listing
  • Orbit Information Heavens Above

    Experment Results:

    NASA Lewis:

  • Valuable Data Provided by PASP Plus Flight Experiment After 1 Year in Orbit
    by Henry B. Curtis & Michael F. Piszczor

    NASA Goddard:

  • CRUX Flight Data Analysis NASA Goddard

  • The Cosmic Ray Upset Experiment by John Adolphsen and Janet Barth

  • Single Event Effects on Commercial Srams and Power MOSFETS: Final Results of the CRUX Flight Experiment on APEX by John Adolphsen and Janet Barth, by John Adolphsen, & George Gee

    Patches:

    APEX Patch PASP Patch CRUX Patch
    APEX Patch PASP Patch CRUX Patch

    APEX's "Sister" Spacecraft:

  • NASA-Goddard SeaWiFS Home Page

    *Note: This APEX page is unofficial and has not been sanctioned or approved by any of the organizations mentioned on this page.
    To provide comments, suggestions, or additional links to the author , please: click here
    Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

    1