Beam Experiment Aboard Rocket (BEAR)

On July 13, 1989 the BEAM experiment Aboard Rocket (BEAR) linear accelerator was successfully launched and operated in space. The flight demonstrated that a neutral hydrogen beam could be successfully propagated in an exoatmospheric environment. The accelerator, which was the result of an extensive collaboration between Los Alamos National Laboratory and industrial partners, was designed to produce a 10 mA (equivalent), 1 MeV neutral hydrogen beam in 50 u.s pulses at 5 Hz. The major components were a 30 kev H' injector a 1 MeV radio frequency quadrupole, two 425 Mhz RF amplifiers, a gas cell neutralizer, beam optics, vacuum system and controls. The design was strongly constrained by the need for a lightweight rugged system that would survive the rigors of launch and operate autonomously. Following the flight the accelerator was recovered and operated again on the laboratory. [1]