Pre-Launch Procedures

Transcription

1 Pre-Launch Procedures Integration and test phase This phase of operations takes place about 3 months before launch, at the TsSKB-Progress factory in Samara, where Foton and its launch vehicle are built. Samara is one of the largest industrial cities in Russia, some 1000 km southeast of Moscow. Named Kujbyshev in the Soviet era, Samara was a closed city until 1993 and only since Foton-11 (1997) have foreign personnel been allowed access to TsSKB to work jointly with Russian colleagues during the satellite-payload interface tests. TsSKB-Progress is one of the world leaders in the development, manufacture and operation of space systems. Upon their arrival at TsSKB, the payload elements are checked (dimensions, mass, centre of gravity, electrical power consumption) and then integrated with the Foton capsule. The work continues for 3 weeks, and includes all the functional verifications, the validation of electrical interfaces (power, telemetry and telecommand) and sequences of combined system tests aimed at simulating some critical mission phases. Foton-M2 during experiment integration tests at TsSKB in Samara, Russia. Feb/March 2005 (Image: ESA) Biopan facility during experiment integration tests at TsSKB in Samara, Russia. Feb/March 2005 (Image: ESA) After the completion of those tests, the Foton spacecraft and its scientific payload leave Samara for the train journey to Baikonur, along with the Soyuz launcher stages. During this transport phase, FluidPac and TeleSupport remain inside Foton, together with the other physical science experiments and instruments. Biopan, on the other hand, is detached from the capsule, in order to load it with its experiment samples, 2 weeks before launch. The pre-launch phase This phase begins three weeks before launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is located on the barren steppes of Kazakhstan. The work takes place in a huge assembly hall for spacecraft and launchers where a large team, including engineers from ESA and its partners, typically begin activities with the installation of the fluid physics and material science samples, followed by another run of functional tests, mission simulations and electromagnetic compatibility verifications. The samples are prepared a few days in advance and transported directly to Baikonur as hand luggage by ESA personnel. Mounting the detachable experiment fluid reservoirs and the experiment samples is a rather difficult job, because of the restricted access afforded by the Foton servicing platform. Biopan and the autonomous experiments must be installed at the last possible moment. Both contain live biological samples, including yeast cells, spores, micro-organisms and plants that are sensitive to temperature variation, humidity and

2 following night, at L-2 days, the 6.5 t Foton is integrated with its Soyuz launcher. It is lifted from Thermal containers with samples being transported from Rotterdam airport to the launch site at Plesetsk, Russia during Foton M1 mission (Image: ESA) ageing, and that need to be prepared in wellcontrolled environmental conditions shortly before launch. They are readied in the investigators laboratories 8 days in advance and delivered to ESTEC in thermally controlled containers. The exposure experiments are eventually integrated into Biopan just a week before launch, in ESTEC s cleanroom. A second ESA team brings Biopan, its experiment samples and other time-critical experiments requiring late installation to Baikonur 5 days before launch, with a special chartered flight from Rotterdam airport to Samara and then onto Baikonur Cosmodrome. Foton-M1 in coupling adapter (right) awaiting enclosure in nose cone (left) two days prior to launch (Image: ESA) its supporting stand, gently lowered into the fairing coupling adapter, and enclosed by the nosecone halves. This assembly is rotated to the horizontal and coupled to the rocket s third stage. The Sample preparation as part of Floatin Protein experiment at MIK integration Centre in Plesetsk, Russia prior to launch of Foton-M1 mission (Image: ESA) At that time, Biopan is returned to its position on the capsule s exterior. Housed in battery-powered thermal containers until the last minute, the autonomous experiments are installed in the capsule at 3 days before launch (L-3 days), an hour before final closure of Foton s hatches. The Foton-M1 being enclosed in nose cone two days prior to launch (Image: ESA) Russian personnel then add the combined first and second stages. The whole process takes them only 8 hours, with an amazing routine and high efficiency a demonstration of competence and skill. The vehicle is then transferred to the launch pad horizontally on a special train and erected upright in its final launch position 24 hours before ignition.

3 Launch Procedures acceleration drops from 4g to 1.5g. These boosters are jettisoned. As soon as the core stage engines fire on full thrust, the g-forces increase again. At about two and a half minutes, 84 km above the Earth, the launch fairing protecting the spacecraft against atmospheric drag is jettisoned. This is almost above the atmosphere. Graphic representation of separation of central core stage (Image: ESA) Launch of a Soyuz-U carrying the Progress M1-11 supply ship to the ISS. 29 January (Image: RSC Energia) Three hours and counting With around three hours to go the propellant tanks start to be filled and checks are carried out on the different launch stages. With one hour until launch the launcher teams are evacuated from the launch pad area. Fifteen minutes later the flight programme is loaded into the on-board computers and the service gantries rolled back. With 15 minutes until launch the launch site is totally evacuated and inertial guidance systems unlocked. The automatic launch sequence becomes ready for ignition with six minutes until launch followed by activation of ground and onboard telemetry one minute later. At 2 minutes 40 seconds until launch the avionics on the 3 rd stage switch to internal power supply and the umbilical mast is disconnected. With 29 seconds remaining, the four lateral boosters together with the central core are ignited. Lift-off The Soyuz launcher and spacecraft slowly raises, starting to roll into its trajectory 20 seconds after launch. It accelerates to 4g over the first few minutes. Two minutes after lift-off the four lateral boosters have finished burning and the After separation of the core stage at 288 seconds after launch, the acceleration seems to stop until the third stage engines fire at 5 minutes after liftoff. The spacecraft is now 167 kilometres high. Seven seconds later the 2 nd /3 rd stage interface is jettisoned. The third stage is extinct after 520 seconds and separates at 528 seconds (8 minutes 48 seconds) after launch. Once in orbit, all on board systems are checked, most importantly the attitude control systems that control how the spacecraft is pointing. Graphic representation of separation of third stage with Foton spacecraft (Image: ESA) Following the launch phase, Foton is inserted into an near circular orbit around the Earth, inclined at approximately 63, with maximum (apogee) and minimum (perigee) altitudes of around 305 km and 260 km, respectively. During its 2-week phase in weightlessness, Foton will orbit the Earth between 225 and 250 times, each orbit lasting 90 minutes.

4 Re-entry Procedures Approximately 1 day before the Foton capsule is due to land, the control system is once again switched on. Three hours before landing, the battery module is jettisoned from the remainder of the vehicle. The de-orbit phase of Foton begins at an altitude of around 300 km, 30 minutes before landing, when the spacecraft finds itself over South Africa and has a velocity of 7.8 km/s. At this point, the retro-rocket is fired, burning for 45 seconds. Graphic representation of Foton re-entry module entering Earth s atmosphere prior to landing (Image: ESA) At 8.5 minutes before landing, a drogue parachute is deployed, which in turn opens a brake parachute, reducing the descent speed from supersonic to subsonic. Thirty seconds later, at an altitude of 2.5 km, the main parachute is deployed, reducing the speed further to 10 m/s. Graphic representation of battery module separation prior to re-entry (Image: ESA/AOES) Once the retro-rocket has completed its burn, the re-entry module is separated from the service module. The service module will continue moving in a degrading orbit, eventually burning up as it enters the atmosphere. The spherical re-entry module enters the stratosphere 20 minutes before landing. As the sphere moves deeper into the atmosphere the heating rate, temperature and acceleration increase, reaching maximum values of about 1600 kw/m 2, 2000 C and 9g, respectively. Graphic representation of separation of parachute fairing (Image: ESA) Graphic representation of Foton re-entry module with main parachute deployed (Image: ESA) Graphic representation of separation of the Foton re-entry module from the Foton service module (Image: ESA/AOES)

5 Landing and Post-landing Procedures The landing is usually scheduled shortly after sunrise, to take advantage of the calm air conditions in the upper layers of the atmosphere and to ensure that search and recovery operations can be completed in daylight. The Foton craft is cushioned during landing by a brake rocket, which is ignited 0.35 seconds before impact bringing the final landing speed down to 3 m/s. The capsule, suspended from its parachute, impacts the ground with a measured shock of g, for which all the equipment is designed to withstand. An ESA team is at the landing site for immediate retrieval of Biopan, Stone and the Autonomous Experiments. Foton-12 re-entry module following landing. 24 september Biopan facility is visible on outside of module (image: ESA) Foton capsule is transported first by helicopter then by aircraft back to the TsSKB-Progress factory. FluidPac and TeleSupport are removed from the capsule a few days later and repatriated to ESTEC. Foton re-enty module after landing in Kazakhstan. Parachute is visible on the ground on the left (Image: ESA) The same team removes FluidPac s Digital Tape Recorder (which carries all the scientific images and flight data obtained during the mission), and completes a list of tasks that configure FluidPac safely for its transport back to Samara. Biopan, the Stone samples and the autonomous experiments are placed in temperature controlled transport containers and carried back to Samara, from where they are dispatched to the science laboratories, via ESTEC. Biopan is opened in one of ESTEC s cleanrooms and the individual experiments returned quickly to the investigators. If required, special samples such as the Stones, can even be returned to the investigators present at the landing site. The