Publications Details

Evaluation of the ISUS Power Management and Distribution System Under Operational Conditions

Button, R.M.; Luker, S.M.; Nelson, R.C.; Wyant, F.J.

An operational evaluation of the Integrated Solar Upper Stage (ISUS) power management and distribution (PMAD) system was conducted as part of the Engine Ground Demonstration thermionic power system test program-- START-3. START-3 testing took place at the Baikal Test Stand, located in the University of New Mexico's Energy Conversion Research Laboratory at the New Mexico Engineering Research Institute in Albuquerque, NM. One objective of this test was to evaluate the operational performance of the lSUS PMAD system developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. Tests of the PMAD with the ISUS diode string demonstrated that the PMAD could regulate the output of an array of thermionic converters within the design requirements and couId be modified to optimize performance for diode strings of fewer than 16 diodes.