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Final Test of German Mars Society's MIRIAM Engineering Module Successful
Another important milestone towards MIRIAM's planned June 14 launch was achieved yesterday with the successful completion of the vacuum primary functionality and system qualification test of MIRIAM's inflation systems deck here at the Institute of Space Technology at the UniBw.
The inflation systems deck is part of MIRIAM's Service Module which
also carries the folded Miriam Flight system package, its deployment
system and telemetry and television hardware.
Because of the available Thermal Vacuum chamber's size limitations, the balloon itself was not inflated.
The inflation deck was tested fully rigged and in flight configuration, meaning that the tank system held 190 bars of Helium and had to undergo a simulated Miriam inflation sequence while under simulated space conditions.
During the test, the actual inflation control command sequence was uploaded to the service module's flight controller (ServCon). The sequence was successfully checked out and executed. Sensor readings are now being compared to computer simulation values to calibrate the mathematical model offset and to build up confidence in the system and its performance. The system performed flawlessly all throughout the test.
This is the last test which was planned with the Service Module's engineering model. Next in line is a full scale space inflation test under simulated space conditions and a shake down of the entire MIRIAM flight system stack at IABG's space test center. This test will be followed by spin balancing, spin tests and a test to determine the moments of inertia.
In parallel, the performance of MIRIAM's instrument pod during a complete mission cycle will be tested, including a simulated magnetic field for the MiriMag experiment, camera and accelerometer readouts and telemetry down links. A long range life telemetry test out in the open will round off the series of tests before the flight system will be installed underneath the rocket's nose cone.
MIRIAM is a flight test within the ARCHIMEDES atmospheric sounding probe for Mars project, and tests the full inflation and subsequent entry of an atmospheric entry balloon ("ballute") here on Earth. It is jointly developed by The Mars Society Germany and several institutes of the University of the Federal Armed Forces of Germany in Munich. MIRIAM combines all research programs within the ARCHIMEDES development program, and is currently planned for launch to a 200km peak altitude from the SSC ESRANGE rocket test site near Kiruna, North Sweden on top of the REXUS4 sounding rocket managed and built by the DLR Moraba group of Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
To obtain more information please feel free to direct inquiries to either hg@marssociety.de or hannes.griebel@unibw.de, or meet us at the Special Session on Space Technology of the 5th European Conference on Intelligent Systems and Technologies ECIT 2008
Hannes Griebel
Because of the available Thermal Vacuum chamber's size limitations, the balloon itself was not inflated.
The inflation deck was tested fully rigged and in flight configuration, meaning that the tank system held 190 bars of Helium and had to undergo a simulated Miriam inflation sequence while under simulated space conditions.
During the test, the actual inflation control command sequence was uploaded to the service module's flight controller (ServCon). The sequence was successfully checked out and executed. Sensor readings are now being compared to computer simulation values to calibrate the mathematical model offset and to build up confidence in the system and its performance. The system performed flawlessly all throughout the test.
This is the last test which was planned with the Service Module's engineering model. Next in line is a full scale space inflation test under simulated space conditions and a shake down of the entire MIRIAM flight system stack at IABG's space test center. This test will be followed by spin balancing, spin tests and a test to determine the moments of inertia.
In parallel, the performance of MIRIAM's instrument pod during a complete mission cycle will be tested, including a simulated magnetic field for the MiriMag experiment, camera and accelerometer readouts and telemetry down links. A long range life telemetry test out in the open will round off the series of tests before the flight system will be installed underneath the rocket's nose cone.
MIRIAM is a flight test within the ARCHIMEDES atmospheric sounding probe for Mars project, and tests the full inflation and subsequent entry of an atmospheric entry balloon ("ballute") here on Earth. It is jointly developed by The Mars Society Germany and several institutes of the University of the Federal Armed Forces of Germany in Munich. MIRIAM combines all research programs within the ARCHIMEDES development program, and is currently planned for launch to a 200km peak altitude from the SSC ESRANGE rocket test site near Kiruna, North Sweden on top of the REXUS4 sounding rocket managed and built by the DLR Moraba group of Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
To obtain more information please feel free to direct inquiries to either hg@marssociety.de or hannes.griebel@unibw.de, or meet us at the Special Session on Space Technology of the 5th European Conference on Intelligent Systems and Technologies ECIT 2008
Hannes Griebel
