What are the features of Iridium 77?
Features. Iridium 77 is 3-axis stabilized, with a hydrazine propulsion system. It has 2 solar panels with 1-axis articulation. The system employs L-Band using FDMA/TDMA to provide voice at 4.8 kbit/s and data at 2.4 kbit/s with 16 dB margin. The satellite has 48 spot beams for Earth coverage and uses Ka-Band for crosslinks and ground commanding.
What does Iridian 77 stand for?
Iridium 77 is a communications Satellite which is part of a satellite constellation known as Iridium, named after the 77th chemical element of the periodic table, iridium. It was launched in 1998 and as of 2014, operational.
What is iridium?
Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, iridium is considered to be the second-densest metal (after osmium) with a density of 22.56 g/cm 3 as defined by experimental X-ray crystallography.
What is the density of iridium?
A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, iridium is considered to be the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density of 22.56 g/cm3 as defined by experimental X-ray crystallography. It is the most corrosion -resistant metal, even at temperatures as high as 2000 °C.
What are the limitations of iridium?
Despite these limitations and iridium’s high cost, a number of applications have developed where mechanical strength is an essential factor in some of the extremely severe conditions encountered in modern technology. The measured density of iridium is only slightly lower (by about 0.12%) than that of osmium, the densest metal known.
What is iridium and why is it so special?
That ‘superhero’ feel also comes through in iridium’s resistance to corrosion. We’re used to gold and platinum as the exemplars of metals that stay pure, but iridium fights off corrosion better than either. It was partly for this reason – and the metal’s sheer hardness – that iridium was first put to use in alloys to make the tips of fountain pens.