Isolation systems for electronic black-box transportation to orbit

摘要

Abstract: Servicing the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) requires the safe transportation of electronic Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) on the Space Transportation System (STS) to replace or enhance the capability of existing units. The delicate design of these electronic ORUs makes it imperative to provide isolation from the STS launch random vibration, while maintaining fundamental modes above the transient load environment. Two methods were developed and used exclusively, on Servicing Mission 2 (SM2), to isolate the ORUs from the environmental launch loads imposed by the STS. The first load isolation system utilizes a refined open/closed cell foam design to provide the required damping and corner frequency, while the second method uses an innovative Viscoelastic Material (VEM) design. This paper addresses both systems as initially designed including finite element (FE) model analysis of the VEM system. Vibration testing of prototype systems and modifications to the design resulting from test will be discussed. The final design as flown on HST SM2 with recommendations for future applications of these technologies in transporting electronic black boxes to orbit will conclude the paper. !2