An improved silver-zinc battery particularly suited for use in an environment wherein the battery operatively is subjected to multiple charge/discharge cycling over extended periods. The battery is characterized by a plurality of positive plates of a planar configuration having interposed therebetween a plurality of negative plates of a wedge-shaped configuration and a separator system including a highly absorbent material contiguous with the surfaces of the plates and multiple semi-permeable me...

A circuit of the type which maintains the inertial element of a gyroscope or accelerometer at a constant position by delivering pulses to a rebalancing motor, wherein the circuit compensates for temperature changes by utilizing a temperature sensor that varies the threshold of inertial element movement required to generate a rebalance pulse, to thereby compensate for changes in viscosity of the floatation fluid. The output of the temperature sensor also varies the output level of the current sou...

A system for digitizing a graphic display to determine the position and orientation of objects depicted thereon is disclosed. The display is provided with a reference coordinate framework. A detection apparatus scans the display in a line-by-line manner. A counter is initiated when each line scan intersects a first reference line of the coordinate framework and normally continues to count until the scan intersects a second reference line. If there is an "image" portion between the counter "start...

A deployable support particularly suited for use in operatively supporting arrays of solar cells aboard spacecraft, characterized by a plurality of independent modules, each including a panel formed of a plurality of trapezoidal panel segments and articulated track segments adapted to be stowed in a folded configuration and simultaneously deployed into a laterally extended and a substantially continuous surface circumscribing an associated spacecraft for positioning arrays of solar cells in an o...

An encoder incorporating a minimum number of logic circuits to convert 64 6-bit data words into 64 32-bit code words, forming a 32, 6 biorthogonal code. Each code bit, generated during a multiclock-period-code-bit- period, is logically combined, at the end of the code bit period, with a code bit of a comma free vector code to produce a code bit of a code word in a 32, 6 comma free biorthogonal code. The encoder implements an algorith in accordance to which each of the six data word bits is incor...

A black body cavity radiometer is provided by a radiation receiving isothermal body having a short hollow cylinder with a hollow cone at one end. The cylinder is spun down at the other end to a smaller hollow cylinder of short length to form a radiation cavity having an aperture. A thermal guard surrounds the cavity, except over the aperture. The annular wall of the guard around the short cylindrical extension of the cavity is provided with an internally blackened groove which functions as an an...

A synthetic aperture radar correlation system including a moving diffuser located at the image plane of a radar processor. The output of the moving diffuser is supplied to a lens whose impulse response is at least as wide as that of the overall processing system. A significant reduction in clutter results.

An inexpensive, lightweight reflective assembly member having good optical quality is provided. The reflective assembly is particularly adaptable to accommodating temperature variations without providing destructive thermal stresses and reflective slope errors. The reflective assembly may consist of a thin lamina reflective surface member and a lightweight substrate member of cellular structure. The respective materials may be chosen so that the coefficient of thermal expansion will be approxima...

The orientation of twinning and other effects in silicon crystal ribbon growth is controlled by use of a starting seed crystal having a specific {110} crystallographic plane and <112> crystallographic growth direction.

Self-protected electrodes which inherently limit field-emitted currents to a safe value and also stabilize such currents are disclosed. The electrodes are characterized by a plurality of columnar conductors connected at one end to a common potential source. The electrodes are insulated from one another along their lengths whereby the effective or exposed surfaces thereof are subdivided into a mosaic of conducting patches which are insulated from one another.