This device is a traveling wave tube (TWT), built by RCA, for use in RCA communications satellites developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
TWTs have been and remain a critical technology for communications satellites in geostationary orbit. After a satellite receives a signal, processes it, and then prepares to transmit it, the satellite must first amplify the signal to ensure that it arrives at a receiving antenna on Earth with sufficient strength and integrity. Typical TWTs can amplify a signal by a factor of 100,000 to 1,000,000.
Lockheed Martin donated this artifact to the Museum in 1998.
Display Status
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin
United States of America
Type
SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed-Instruments & Payloads
Manufacturer
Hughes Aircraft Co.
Radio Corporation of America
Dimensions
3-D: 21.6 × 20.3 × 11.4cm (8 1/2 × 8 × 4 1/2 in.)
Storage: 26.7 × 25.4 × 15.2cm (10 1/2 × 10 × 6 in.)
Materials
Aluminum
Paint
Gold Plating
Kapton Tape
Anodized Aluminum
Stainless Steel
Plastic
Rubber
Adhesive
Base: aluminum
Electronics housing: aluminum
OVERALL - ALUMINUM, COPPER, PLASTIC
Inventory Number
A19980294000
Credit Line
Gift of Lockheed Martin
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
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