摘要 |
A spacecraft support cradle structure includes a keel rod which depends from its lower extremity and which mates with a female receptacle in the base of a cargo bay of a launch vehicle. An illuminating cable and an imaging cable made of optical fibers coaxially mounted within the keel rod, terminate at the rod's lower extremity. The illumination cable transmits light to the lower extremity of the keel rod to illuminate the female receptacle. The illuminated region image as received by the imaging cable is picked up and displayed by a television system to aid the alignment of the keel rod with the receptacle.
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