Environmental and Thermal Effects on Surveyor Vidicon Performance

The Surveyor spacecraft was designed to soft land on the moon's surface and perform scientific evaluation such as transmitting to earth 600-line TV pictures of the lunar terrain. The TV system had to be designed to survive a temperature range of from — 150 F for three days during transit to +250 F during lunar operation and for as low as — 250 F during the lunar night (14 earth days). The eye of the Surveyor TV system is a 1-in. diameter hybrid vidicon tube. The principles and the construction of the vidicon are the basis for understanding the problems encountered during the elaborate test phase. Some problem areas caused by very low temperatures were peeling of the photoconductor from the inside of the vidicon faceplate and physical and positional changes in internal metal grids. Exposure at high temperature for long periods created spots of various sizes. Vibration levels corresponding to pre-launch testing and launch and lunar loading conditions also contributed problems. Some other problems were the effect of foreign particles inside a tube, and the expected tube life.

Print ISSN

0361-4573

Published

1968-04

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J05829