NON-TRADITIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF A TRADITIONAL SAFETY SYSTEM

Abstract

Safety system implementation for Flight Termination involves the interconnection of specific signals from one (no redundancy) or both (redundancy) Flight Termination Receivers (FTR) to be telemetered to the ground for monitoring by the Range Safety Officer (RSO). The number of specific signals per FTR can be as high as 12 independent signals resulting in a large wire harness. The addition of an RS-232 programming interface on the radar transponder and telemetry transmitters adds weight and cost, takes up space and creates installation and maintenance issues. This paper discusses how switching to a serial wiring approach, such as a multidrop bus, will reduce wiring and allow for other features including more in-depth status information and quick system configuration reprogramming.