„Orbit Refuelling Station“ is ready to be launched - No. 11 dated 08.02.2011

February 15, 2011, Nr. 11

Student project EXPLORE:

In the framework of the project EXPLORE (EXPeriment for Liquid On-orbit REfueling) students, including many from the University of Stuttgart, are researching the refuelling technology of rockets in space, supported by space experts. These „orbit refuelling stations“ are an important prerequisite for future manned space missions. From the concept to the ready to fly module, the student experiment has undergone a breathtaking development . On 20 th February EXPLORE is to set off to the borders of space from Swedish Kiruna in the direction of the research rocket REXUS 9.

In recent months the experiment has been optimised and assembled on numerous evenings and weekends, the critical system tests have been successfully completed. Vibration tests were carried out at Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) (German Aerospace Centre) in Stuttgart and Bremen, the thermal-vacuum test was performed at Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme (Institute of Space Systems) at the University of Stuttgart. A service simulator test at DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen and the integration week at DLR in Bremen confirmed the operational capability of EXPLORE. After the integration of the experiment module, it finally left in January via Oberpfaffenhofen and Stockholm on its journey to its starting place in Kiruna.
 
The entire EXPLORE team (together with other student teams) will also be setting off for Kiruna on 14 th February. All experiments will be assembled there once again in the first week and extensively tested in order to ensure that everything runs smoothly. This includes a renewed test with the service module of the rockets and several test countdowns in which the teams and the experts from the rocket base go through all procedures for take-off in detail and activate the experiments just like in a real flight.
 
If these tests go satisfactorily, the rocket will be assembled and transported to the launching pad. The planned launch date of the REXUS 9 rocket is 20 th February, expected time around 6 pm. The countdown starts around 3 hours beforehand. Students and scientists will be sitting excitedly in front of their computer, which receives the rocket’s signals and follows the launch in front of the windows of the Esrange Space Centers. If everything goes according to plan, the experiments will be secured on the very same day so that the hardware as well as the recorded data can be analysed. „We are hoping for fantastic, impressive video images of the flight“, enthused Jürgen Schlutz from the EXPLORE team, who did his doctorate at Institut für Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik (Institute for Aerospace Technology) at the University of Stuttgart.
 
Further information at info@explore-rexus.de or by telephone:
            Emil Nathanson          Tel. 0177 / 5471003
            Johannes Weppler     Tel. 0176 / 20119952
            Robert Schelling         Tel. 0179 / 9690405
Jürgen Schlutz           Tel. 0179 / 7903379
 
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