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Spinoff story
Comsat Antenna
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
New multiple beam, unattended earth terminal located at COMSAT Laboratories in Clarksburg, MD is actually a complex structure capable of maintaining contact with several satellites simultaneously. In developing antenna, COMSAT used NASA's computer program NASTRAN together with BANDIT, a comparison program. Computer programs were used to model several structured configurations and determine most suitable. Speed and accuracy of computerized design analysis afforded appreciable savings in time and money.