MISSILE FLIGHT SAFETY AND TELEMETRY AT WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE

Abstract

Missile Flight Test Safety Managers (MFTSM) and other flight safety personnel at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) constantly monitor the realtime space position of missile and airborne target vehicles and the telemetered missile and target vehicle performance parameters during the test flight to determine if these are about to leave Range boundaries or if erratic vehicle performance might endanger Range personnel, Range support assets or the nearby civilian population. WSMR flight safety personnel rely on the vehicle telemetry system to observe the Flight Termination System (FTS) parameters. A realtime closed loop that involves the ground command-destruct transmitter, the vehicle command-destruct receiver (CDR), other FTS components, the missile S-band telemetry transmitter, and the ground telemetry acquisition/ demultiplex system is active when the vehicle is in flight. The FTS engineer relies upon telemetry to provide read-back status of the flight termination system aboard the vehicle. WSMR flight safety personnel use the telemetry system to assess realtime airborne vehicle systems performance and advise the MFTSM. The MFTSM uses this information, in conjunction with space position information provided by an Interactive Graphics Display System (IGDS), to make realtime destruct decisions about missiles and targets in flight. This paper will aid the missile or target developer in understanding the type of vehicle performance data and FTS parameters WSMR flight safety personnel are concerned with, in realtime missile test operations.