🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <14215@cup.portal.com> mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson) writes:
>"But some satellites have suffered repeated problems with the light bulbs in
>an instrument the satellite uses to keep itself oriented."
>
>A light bulb?  I'm surprised.  That's like hearing a piece of string broke
>or a rubber band snapped.  Does anybody have more specific information on
>what this lightbulb was being used for?

As I recall, it's part of a sensor that encodes the position of rotating
parts in the satellite's scanner system.  Those bulbs are a notorious
reliability problem that is being designed out of more recent satellites;
even putting several of them in each encoder for redundancy hasn't brought
their reliability up to acceptable levels.
-- 
Allegedly heard aboard Mir: "A |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
toast to comrade Van Allen!!"  | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu