AEROSPACE INDUSTRY
UPDATE
April 2016
McIlvaine Company
The latest addition to ESA’s satellite-testing facilities is
this six-degree-of-freedom microvibration unit, sufficiently sensitive to
identify the multi-axis forces induced by a single dropped feather.
The latest addition to the European Space Agency's (ESA’s)
satellite testing facilities is a six-degree-of-freedom microvibration unit,
which is sufficiently sensitive to identify the multi-axis forces induced by a
single dropped feather. Most satellites have some limits on microvibration to
ensure high-quality results, especially for science, Earth observation and human
spaceflight.
Minimizing jitter helps to deliver ultra-high-resolution
images, precision attitude control and pointing stability for optimal science
measurements. Many essential satellite elements are potential sources of jitter,
such as spinning reaction wheels, scanning or pointing mechanisms, solar array
drives or rotating cryocoolers.
Developed for the ESA by the UK’s National Physical
Laboratory, a national centre of excellence for measurement standards, this new
machine is capable of characterizing extremely small disturbances from satellite
subsystems or to assess the performance of precision mechanisms. In addition, it
is able to generate a controlled microvibration environment by itself, allowing
the assessment of an item’s performance under various conditions.
'In recent years we’ve
built a portfolio of world-class microvibration test facilities with
demonstrated, unprecedented performance,' said Mark Wagner, ESA’s Head of Test
Facilities and Test Methods. 'This new facility is complementing these
capabilities, enabling us to offer an independent characterization of potential
microvibration sources while also allowing performance testing of sensitive
equipment when subjected to an injected microvibration environment.'
Standing around a meter high, the unit – being installed at
the ESTEC Test Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands – performs two tasks at
once. Its bottom section isolates the rest of the measurement part of the
machine from vibrations transferred through the ground such as nearby footsteps,
seismic noise or even the waves of the nearby North Sea. Suitably detached in
this way, the top section measures micronewton-scale forces and torques from the
item under test.
The unit operates under a plastic tent to minimize
perturbations from airflow caused by the building’s cleanroom-class air
conditioning. It can also work in vacuum. Once qualified, the machine will enter
service in June.
Designed for full-scale satellite testing, the ESTEC Test
Centre is a collection of facilities to simulate every aspect of the space
environment. Everything is located under a single roof, within a controlled
cleanroom environment tailored for delicate flight hardware. Based in a
dedicated building in ESTEC, it is the largest centre of its kind in Europe, and
one of the largest in the world.
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