Payload Assist Module

Payload Assist Module
PAM-D with the Phoenix spacecraft. The Star 48-B engine is shown being spun, fired, yo-yo de-spun and jettisoned.
SBS-3 satellite with PAM-D stage inside the space shuttle
PAM-D stage in assembly

The Payload Assist Module (PAM) is a modular upper stage operated with solid propellant, used with the Space Shuttle, Delta, and Titan launchers. The rocket was used to carry satellites from a low earth orbit to a geostationary transfer orbit or an interplanetary course. The payload was spin stabilized by being mounted on a rotating plate. Originally developed for the Space Shuttles, different versions of the PAM followed:

  • PAM-A (Atlas class), development terminated
  • PAM-D (Delta class), uses a Star-48B rocket motor
  • PAM-D2 (Delta class), uses a Star-63 rocket motor
  • PAM-S (Special) as a kick motor for the space probe Ulysses

The PAM-D module, used as the third stage of a Delta II rocket, is the only version in use today.

Saudi officials inspect the crashed PAM-D module.

On January 12, 2001, a PAM-D module reentered the atmosphere after a "catastrophic orbital decay".[1] The PAM-D stage, that had been used to launch a GPS satellite in 1993, crashed in the sparsely populated Saudi Arabian desert, where it was positively identified.

External links

References

  1. ^ "PAM-D Debris Falls in Saudi Arabia." The Orbital Debris Quarterly News. Vol. 6, Issue 2. NASA Johnson Space Center. Available online.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Payload Assist Module — Satellite SBS 3 avec l étage PAM D à l intérieur de la navette spatiale …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Payload Assist Module — SBS 3 mit PAM D Stufe wird vom Space Shuttle ausgesetzt PAM D S …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • payload assist module — a U.S. solid propellant rocket used to boost a medium weight spacecraft from a circular low earth orbit to an elliptical transfer orbit for later insertion into a geosynchronous orbit. Abbr.: PAM Cf. inertial upper stage. [1980 85] * * * …   Universalium

  • payload assist module — a U.S. solid propellant rocket used to boost a medium weight spacecraft from a circular low earth orbit to an elliptical transfer orbit for later insertion into a geosynchronous orbit. Abbr.: PAM Cf. inertial upper stage. [1980 85] …   Useful english dictionary

  • Multi-Purpose Logistics Module — 10 March 2001 – The Leonardo Multi Purpose Logistics Module rests in Discovery s payload bay in this view taken from the ISS by a crew member using a digital still camera during STS 102 …   Wikipedia

  • PAM-A — Payload Assist Module, Atlas/Centaur class Weltraumfahrt …   Acronyms

  • PAM-D — Payload Assist Module, Delta class Weltraumfahrt …   Acronyms

  • PAM-A — Payload Assist Module, Atlas/Centaur class {Weltraumfahrt} …   Acronyms von A bis Z

  • PAM-D — Payload Assist Module, Delta class {Weltraumfahrt} …   Acronyms von A bis Z

  • PAM —    Payload Assist Module. A small rocket that is attached to a satellite and fires after the satellite leaves the Space Shuttle s bay. It lets the satellite achieve Geosynchronous orbit. This rocket is smaller than an IUS …   The writer's dictionary of science fiction, fantasy, horror and mythology

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