Space power experiments aboard rockets

SPEAR II examined issues of the operation of high electrical power systems in space. It built upon the successful SPEAR I flight in 1987 that demonstrated the feasibility of operating light weight high voltage systems without volume or surface breakdown when Innovative insulation techniques were employed. The SPEAR II payload contained both low and high impedance packages which modeled the power supplied needed for SDIO directed energy and electromagnetic launcher systems. A high voltage system provided 100 kV, 100 amp, (1 MW) pulse up to 50 microseconds in length to the cathode-anode structure of a klystrode radio frequency power tube. A high current system consisted of 140 kA, 6 kV electromagnetic launcher with a 10 mm bore to accelerate a one gram lexan projectile to over 1 km/sec. SPEAR II was successfully and extensively tested in the NASA Plum Brook Space Power Facility space chamber. These tests included a validation of a number of techniques, models, and innovative designs.