Fairing

Yesterday, handling of the PayLoad Fairing (PLF= Part located at the upper tip of the rocket) permitted to get nice views of this element.

PLF will be mounted on the top of the black platforms A+B (already described in
Cryosat-2 fairing) and will cover the Gas Dynamic Shield (GDS) in white below.
The GDS covers the Spacecraft.

Here under is a nice view of the PLF after it was lifted and laid on the trolley used for its transport to the Silo.
PLF is still partly covered with the protection material needed for the road transport to the Silo.

The inside of the fairing (2 pictures below) shows the configuration of pyro elements that will:

• activate the separation springs (and eject the fairing from the launcher)
• split/tear the fairing in 2 pieces (pyros are located along the string in the middle)
  

These two events will take place simultaneously, and PLF separation will occur at Launch + 5mn 9 sec precisely. Then, the fairing will fall into the Indian Ocean.
Inside the PLF during lifting.

Inside the PLF when laying on its jig.

Here under is a closer view on the separation springs seen from the outside.
Note some red tag items still to be removed before flight at the silo.

The PLF will be transported to the Silo with same convoy as the spacecraft and will be integrated there. Therefore, there are unfortunately no pictures of the fully integrated "rocket head'' i.e. Platforms +PLF.

Purging sucesfull

Purging the low pressure branch of the Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) is a nominal operation. It is made necessary by the CryoSat-2 AOCS design to prevent a pressure build up in the low pressure branch which is not desirable for several reasons. The pressure build up is caused by the unavoidable leak of the mini pressure regulator between the High Pressure and the Low Pressure branches of the AOCS. This purging operation is planned to be done regularly once CryoSat-2 will be in Orbit. Due to the unexpected storage period duration, since the tank has been fully pressurized, it was necessary to perform the same purging operation on the ground today.

The snapshot below shows the Pressures, before the purging:

• in the High Pressure Branches A and B respectively HPT-A=267,1 and HPT-B=267,6 Bars
• in the Low Pressure Branch A and B respectively LPT-A =3,6 and LPT -B=4 Bars.

The procedure says that the purging needs to be done when the Pressure in the Low Pressure Branch is above 3,5 Bars. Therefore Low Pressure Branches A and B have to be purged today.

The short movie below, shot on the Control Ground System Screen, shows in real time the purging of the Low Pressure Branch B by mean of thruster activation (OCT B1) for 10 seconds. The pressure drops from 4 to 2,7 Bars (unfortunately, due to movie conversion, the display of LPT-B Pressure is hardly readable, but the appearing and disappearing green rectangle shows the 10 seconds thruster activation that causes this pressure drop)

1 hour later, the pressure in branches A and B stabilizes and the final measurements can be recorded (LPT-A and B = 2,9 bars).

Purging successful!
Let's only wish now that next time, this operation will be done not on the ground,...but in space :-)

Note: This activity was performed by Gehrard from ASTRIUM, arrived at Baikonur on Friday 12/3/2010. We are therefor, as from this date, a team of 2 to babysit Cryosat-2.

A short status on our baby

You may have forgotten, but we have a full spacecraft ready to fly, in storage! This brief note will just tell you how things are going here.
Since 2 weeks now, the area B of building 40, where the spacecraft stands is inspected by ESA and Kosmotras almost every morning.
Have you noticed the spy camera?

The inspection takes place around 10:30 a.m. and is performed in parallel to the cleaning of the area B (including storage area).
Then, some direct measurements on the Spacecraft are made, through 2 break out boxes mainly to check the voltage of the battery (nominal value is 30V).
Very stable since the beginning of the storage.

The battery thermistor resistance measurement also permits to estimate the temperature. This value normally correlates with the environmental data displayed on the wall of the room.
The clock is never on time:-)

All these inspection and measurements data are recorded on an "as run procedure'' that will later on fill the campaign Log Book.
In addition, Area B environmental data are provided by the Russians on on a weekly basis
So far so good.
...
But the funny thing this morning at the MIK was the poster that replaced (so quickly) the yesterday poems of the Women's day:

Basically this posted page says with some humor that as from 9th of March, SMS, poems, sweets, and flowers are over, and life is back to normal with usual shouts, fights and separations:
Sentences like:
- why you haven't called?
- How can it be that you forgot me!
- Ah, you don't like me any more!
- At 6:00 pm we go to my mother place,
- Where is the fur coat, you promised!
- I want it exactly as it looks on the advertising
- With whom did you talk the whole evening?
...should be managed by men without heart attacks! :-)

No passengers allowed in the SHM

One aspect to be taken care during the "abnormally quiet" period of the CryoSat-2 (CS-2) storage is that no little animals will visit or take the Space Head Module (SHM) as a natural "home''. This could have dramatic consequences.

Insects and or small rodents like mice are the best candidates as we observed them several time at the MIK.


Russians are taking the issue very seriously. For the fairing part

• the cones on the legs of the jig normally prevent small rodents to climb up the hardware.

• As a second precaution, a plastic foil under the fairing has been installed this morning. This will also help for preventing conventional contamination.
  

As far the SHM (where CS-2 is encapsulated) is concerned, it is tight sealed on the bottom side with large filtering areas enabling air circulation.
Note: the hole for connectors (bottom side middle of the picture) is also sealed from the inside.


The ideal solution would be to use one (or two) good old tomcat(s) from the vicinity (there are some), but as you can imagine they are not allowed in clean or equivalent integration halls!

"We do it twice"

After the launch delay was announced, CryoSat-2 (CS-2) had to return from the Silo to the MIK till the modification of the 2nd stage engine software gives enough confidence that the best injection in orbit of the spacecraft can be achieved.

The CS-2 and Russian teams worked very hard last Saturday to get the Spacecraft out of the Silo and the heavy EGSE racks out of the bunker.
Due to long holiday week end on the Russian side (23/02 is a national day), this activity had absolutely to be done on Saturday February 2oth.

This is one of the picture reflecting this activity on Saturday 20/02.


As you see above, all the ingredients could have been there for the shot of a new nice James Bond movie but forget it today, it is just CS-2 safely loaded on he Jolly Green Giant leaving the Silo under escort and returning to the MIK for an unexpected "baby sitting"phase of the campaign.

This is a short movie of the last phase of this trip back: the crocodile entering backwards the site 31 area C of the MIK.


This trip to the Silo will have to be repeated when the campaign will resume, then the CryoSat-2 mission slogan "we do it twice'' may applied in this case unless " We only live twice!" could also be appropriate (?)

Anyway... let's wish that next one will be the good one!

MIK gets prepared

The check out room of the site 31 is now configured to perform the dry run on Friday 18th.
Note the 2 seats behind for the restricted audience :-)


On the 1st row, there is the central position position from where

• the Spacecraft Countdown Responsible (Bill)

• and his deputy (Klaus)

will run the show.

On their right, the translator will use the voice loop with the Launch Command Center (LCC) on site 111 (under Russian Control),


On their left, in the corner, will sit the Spacecraft Operations Team, namely Karl and Gerhard.


They are responsible to send commands via full autonomously controlled Automated Procedures (AP) to the Spacecraft during the count down in order to switch it from OFF to Launch mode. They will also support the SC Count Down Responsible reporting on SC the status as well as possible anomalies.

The screen below shows the present status of the spacecraft as it appears to this team. Other screens next to it report the status of received telemetry.


All sections of the Count Down procedure needing the support of the spacecraft operations team are being repeated since the beginning of the week in order to run the rehearsal as smooth as possible tomorrow.

Below 2 pictures shot this morning:
The team preparing for the dress rehearsal


... and polishing the last details to make sure that everybody is aware.

Preparing for the "Dress Rehearsal"

The Dress Rehearsal terminology comes from the theater and indicates that all "players"of the launch will repeat the countdown as if it was the real day of the launch.

A step by step procedure of the Countdown has been written for CryoSat-2. The dress rehearsal is covered by a dedicated section of this procedure and it will take place on Friday 18 February between MIK, ESOC and the Launch Command Center (LCC) under Russian control.

The key players/places in the rehearsal are:

1. Spacecraft Responsible at MIK site 31 on Baikonur cosmodrome
2. Spacecraft Operation Team at MIK site 31 on Baikonur cosmodrome (support to 1)
   
3. Spacecraft Operation Manager (SOM) at ESOC Mission Control Room (MCR), Darmstadt Germany
   
4. Operation Director at ESOC MCR, Darmstadt Germany
5. Project Representative, ESOC MCR, Darmstadt Germany
   
6. LCC at site 111 on Baikonur cosmodrome

Communication means are set as follows:

• MIK <---> ESOC: voice loop or normal phone line/mobile in case of problems

• MIK <---> LCC : voice loop only (Russian Hardware)
  

The MIK, in the middle of this chain between ESOC and LCC, plays a key role on the overall flow of information not only during the rehearsal but also on the launch day.

The goal of this exercise is to repeat step by steps all the activities foreseen on the procedure from Launch minus 9 hours to Launch. As far as it is a dry run, the launch is declared aborted by LCC to MIK at the very last moment and the spacecraft is switched OFF but then,... the rehearsal continues on the ESOC side to simulate a successful launch and orbit injection.

To make it short, covered activities are:

• Check of Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE and NDIU)
• Switch of Power ON on the Spacecraft (SC)
  
• Switch SC to PRE-Launch and then to Launch configurations.
  

(Some of the last) crucial milestones of the count down:

• -15 minutes: start of the automatic sequence of the DNIEPR launcher
• -5 minutes : the last limit for NO-GO from the CryoSat-2 side
  
• -3 minutes : launch command presses the START button!
  

Day -10 : CryoSat-2 travels to the Silo

No spectacular pictures today, but few more small but significant steps:

• Cryosat-2 has been transported by the "jolly green giant" (another name for the crocodile) from the MIK to the Silo on launch pad 109
  
• The 2 platforms containing the Spacecraft have been mated onto the Rocket
• Platform B has been topped with the PayLoad Fairing.

Edi and I have been authorized this morning to escort the convoy for this about 13,5 kms trip that lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes in total. No speed cameras on the way but nasty holes and bumps that the driver had to minimise for preserving the good health of the spacecraft.

Not a very entertaining trip and much we could do in fact. The only distracting moment was when we saw 2 running guys over passing the convoy on the left side of the road . There were not professional marathoners preparing for the Olympic games but a TV team trying to get ahead for getting a nice shot of the convoy. This just gives an idea of the speed we ran.


No pictures of the convoy nor the Silo can be published as we are getting closer to the military "sphere".

Instead you can just imagine this trip on the model of the cosmodrome below.
as photographed in the Gagarin museum on 30/01/2010.
Just follows the road in white:

• Departure: The MIK building, one of the black buildings (next to the large Soyuz-2 rocket launch site 31 on the right)
  
• Arrival: Launch pad 109 on the left where the green and gray rocket is (2/3) ejected from the Silo

As said above the distance via the road is about 13,5 kms while the shortest distance between these 2 points is ca 8 kms. That is the distance we shall be at the launch day.


In parallel to this transport, few racks of Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) were moved to the Bunker (i.e on launch pad 109 but 30 meters far from the Silo) in order to connect the Spacecraft once in the Silo to the MIK.
These equipment

• the Front End EGSE
• and the NDIU (enabling the connection with the ESOC, the ESA Operation Centre)

were successfully installed and a satisfactory connection was established.

Here under, Karl connecting the EGSE in the bunker:


From this point, CryoSat-2 will progressively prepare for its own life, before the "big"trip...

CryoSat-2 moves to the crocodile

Empty trolley to be used for moving CryoSat-2 from area B to area C (where the crocodile stands).
note in the background, the DNIEPR integrated platforms already prepared for the next launch


Lifting and moving the encapsulated CS-2 towards the trolley:


Very slow move for the last bit and a perfect fitting:


CS-2 on the trolley:


...and then, the push to the crocodile.
Эй, ухнем! Ещё разик, ещё да раз!
Yo, heave ho! Once more, once again, still once more
famous song of the Volga Boatmen :-)


A group picture of (part) the "technical support" staff at the MIK during our campaign. They have all been extremely appreciated for their reliability and competence . A good opportunity to be thankful to them.

Completion of the CryoSat-2 Encapsulation

Starting the lift of Platform B


Slowly moving down Platform B on the Platform A


...till it almost perfect fit between top and bottom platforms is reached.


Encapsulation done!
...CryoSat-2 in the Space Head Module (SHM) on 10/02/2010 at 18:04 local time.


Few activities on the Russian side are still to be done before Spacecraft in the SHM can be loaded on the crocodile! (see previous note "SHM fit check on the launcher").

CS-2 Encapsulation starts

Spacecraft and adaptor (on a jig) ready to be lifted


... and transported towards Platform A.


After slowly moving down the SC till the the adatpor has reached its nominal place at the bottom of Platform A, CryoSat-2 is "half" encapuslated.


Last chance to remove the last red tag items
Here, Wolfgang is removing a lifting bracket.
This item as you can see was used till the very last minute for this activity.


...and install the last green tag items. Here a balance mass.
Note the use of a 10 tons crane for a few kgs cube of bronze! :-)

After this step a last careful visual inspection is performed.
A unique opportunity to see the mirrors of Laser Retro Reflector (on left) without their caps.


Then... the last part of the encapsulation can start.

CryoSat-2 goes onto its Adaptor

After a successful Flight Readiness Review (FRR) on 09/02/2010, Cryosat-2 (CS-2) was declared ready for flight. A significant milestone in the launch campaign.

This opens the door to the next activity: The Encapsulation of the Spacecraft (SC) in the Space Head Module (SHM) of the launcher.

This is done in 3 steps

• Mate the SC on its Adaptor
• Integrate both on Platform A
• Cover the platform A with Platform B.
  

CS-2 was moved from the MIK clean room 119 to zone B and put in vertical position


for being lifted and transported to the adaptor.


Mating the SC on its adaptor is a delicate operation that needs a lot of care and skills from the operators


mating almost completed....
Note the presence of the Russian crane operator. She did a remarkable job.
Cranes at the MIK are exclusively operated by Russians and in most of the cases

operators are women.

Once CS-2 stands on its adaptor, the step 1 of the encapsulation shall start. As it is the last time the CS-2 team will see the spacecraft, it was agreed to make a joined ESA/ASTRIUM team photo.

Spacecraft adaptor gets prepared for fligft

Good news: The Space Head Module (SHM) and the fairing, have now returned to the MIK building B. It is then assumed that the fit check on the launcher in the silo was positive and we get then closer to the encapsulation of the Spacecraft.

Below are the elements needed for this operation (from left to right) :

• platform A
  
• the complete adaptor (on a jig here)
  
• platform B (with the Gas Dynamic Shield in white)
• the fairing (seen for the first time)

The CryoSat-2 adaptor is made of 2 pieces

• the spacecraft adaptor (square)
  
• the launcher adaptor (circle)
  

In space, the separation of the spacecraft from the launcher will be done between these 2 elements by mean of four pyro bolts positioned in the four corners as showed below (but not installed yet)


The view below shows the very moment of the separation (between launcher and spacecraft adaptors) after activation of pyro bolts.
...as it was witnessed during the separation and shock test last July in IABG.



As you can see, after separation, the squared frame will stay on the spacecraft (SC) for the rest of the mission.
Therefore as for the SC, a thermal blanket called Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) needs to be installed on the SC adaptor. This work was performed today.

This is how the adaptor looks like after it got "dressed" for the flight.


Hope you can notice the difference!