Design of the Ballute Inflation System of the MIRIAM-2 Service Spacecraft

• Main Author: Wander, Alexandra; Rapp, Helmut; Peatzold, Kristin; Förstner, Roger
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: MIRIAM-2; gossamer ballute; ballute inflation system; Esrange; Kiruna; Orion
• Online Access: http://athene-forschung.unibw.de/node?id=123124; https://iafastro.directory/iac/archive/browse/IAC-14/D1/1/26731/

MIRIAM-2 is the acronym of ‘Main Inflated Re-entry Into the Atmosphere Mission test’ and describes an atmospheric reentry flight test of an innovative ballute spacecraft that is scheduled for launch in November 2015 with a two-staged Taurus-Improved Orion sounding rocket from Esrange, Kiruna. This paper introduces the overall mission concept and the MIRIAM-2 spacecraft that comprises three modules, namely the ballute spacecraft, the service spacecraft and a dedicated camera module. In detail, the design of the inflation subsystem carried by the service spacecraft is presented. The inflation subsystem is crucial for mission success, since the ballute that is to be inflated is carrying all scientific instrumentation. Therefore, the technical solutions for the ballute inflation subsystem including configuration, test setup and results to meet the mission requirements are presented and discussed. In detail, the test campaign verified successfully the suggested inflation profile, but also revealed some design flaws that need reconsideration.