SWARM DEPLOYABLE BOOM ASSEMBLY (DBA) DEVELOPMENT OF A DEPLOYABLE MAGNETOMETER BOOM FOR THE SWARM SPACECRAFT

摘要

The Swarm programme consists of 3 magnetically cleanrnsatellites flying in close formation designed to measurernthe Earth's magnetic field using 2 Magnetometersrnmounted on a 4.3m long deployable boom.rnDeployment is initiated by releasing 3 HDRMs, oncernreleased the boom oscillates back and forth on a pair ofrnpivots, similar to a restaurant kitchen door hinge, forrnaround 120 seconds before coming to rest on 3rnkinematic mounts which are used to provide an accuraternreference location in the deployed position. Motion ofrnthe boom is damped through a combination of friction,rnspring hysteresis and flexing of the 120+ cables crossingrnthe hinge. Considerable development work and accuraternnumerical modelling of the hinge motion was requiredrnto predict performance across a wide temperature rangernand ensure that during the 1st overshoot the boom didrnnot damage itself, the harness or the spacecraft.rnDue to the magnetic cleanliness requirements of thernspacecraft no magnetic materials could be used in therndesign of the hardware.