Pressure Controllers Used in Sounding Rocket Payload Attitude Control Systems

Pressure controllers from Alicat Scientific have been selected for use in NASA sounding rockets to control payload attitude. The payload sections of some NASA sounding rockets are required to achieve pointing accuracies of finer than 1 arc second (1/3600 of a degree). Conventional attitude control systems (using solenoid valves) introduce too much shock and vibration, and are imprecise. NASA contractor Northrop Grumman chose the Alicat absolute pressure controllers for use with the rockets’ delicate optical instruments.