A

David

Darling

de-spun antenna

Diffraction pattern matching Dawes' limit.

Diagram of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter. The axial mast, which carried several antennas as well as a high-gain parabolic dish, was mounted on a de-spun bearing.


A de-spun antenna is an antenna used in a spin-stabilized spacecraft (see spin stabilization) that rotates in the opposite sense and at an equal rate to the body of the spacecraft, thereby continuing to point in the required direction.