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ATV Simulation Facility Will 'Fly' Very Complex Mission
Paris (ESA) Oct 08, 2003 Before the green light can be given for the launch of Jules Vernes in autumn 2004, another Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) has to first successfully fly the same mission. Next year, prior to the inaugural ATV mission, this ATV will fly a full mission though launch, docking and undocking from ISS, to controlled destructive re-entry over the Pacific. Although this ATV, which has been progressively assembled since late 2002, will never go into space, or dock with ISS, or safely burn up during re-entry. In fact, it will never move from its clean, air-conditioned room at EADS SPACE Transportation's facilities (ex-EADS-LV) in Les Mureaux, 50 km west of Paris, France. Instead, it will be capable of simulating dozens of missions and it will run hundreds of tests, including virtual failure scenarios. The ATV mock-up does not even look like a full spacecraft; it is essentially the electronic 'brain' and the 'nervous system' of the ATV with numerous electronic boxes, powerful computers and huge networks of cables and wires. It is called the Electrical Test Model (ETM), and it is able to replicate all the complexity of the avionics and the onboard electronics of the ATV. The Electrical Test Model is built into a large cylindrical structure, 4.8 m diameter and 1.36 m in height. In the ATV flight model, the avionics bay segment appears as a similar cylindrical white skirt between the two other main modules of the ATV, the propulsion bay and the pressurized integrated cargo carrier.
Simulation of mission scenarios In addition, key elements of the real flight hardware, like, for example, the GPS or the rendezvous videometre - which enables laser-guided rendezvous operations in orbit - will be inserted in the Functional Simulation Facility for dedicated tests. These hardware elements can be compared to the navigation 'senses' of the ATV mock-up, connected - through 'nervous system' like cables - to the electronic 'brain'. Thanks to this complex infrastructure, with its interconnecting flight hardware, powerful computers and numerous pieces of software, it is as if the avionics bay Electrical Test Model is actually flying in orbit.
Three types of ATV simulation test This state-of-the-art simulator allows three kinds of critical tests:
Simulation facility nearing completion Built by RSC Energia, near Moscow, the RECS will be located in the Cargo Carrier segment of the ATV. The RECS controls all the mechanical Russian docking systems during rendezvous, as well as the refuelling operations during the attached phase. It is also the electrical interface with the International Space Station, allowing power transfer from the Station to the ATV if needed. The Functional Simulation Facility will also be permanently equipped with a full scale copy of the Russian ATV docking mechanism which has to be integrated and tested in the facility. Arrival of the Russian Docking System (RDS) mock-up is expected by mid-November. Related Links ATV Program SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
EMS Technologies To Supply Microgravity Vibration Isolation System Montreal - Oct 07, 2003 EMS Technologies has been awarded, through its Space & Technology, a contract extension from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to complete the design, development, manufacturing and test of the electronics for the Microgravity Vibration Isolation System (MVIS) for CSA's subsequent delivery to ESA (the European Space Agency). |
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