DEMISEABLE PROPELLANT TANK FOR NASA GLOBAL PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENT

摘要

The NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission goal is to improve the globalcoverage and accuracy of both liquid and solid precipitation measurements. In addition tomeeting the science requirements, the GPM core spacecraft is designed to minimize survivingdebris upon its controlled reentry at the end of its life. These requirements resulted in the needfor much of its structure and many of its components, including the propellant tank, to demise orablate during re-entry. The GPM mission's hydrazine tank is the world's first spacecraft tankspecifically designed to demise upon reentry. The design includes an integrated carboncomposite conical skirt that supports the tank in the spacecraft structure. The design alsoincludes a passive aluminum propellant management device (PMD) integrated into the aluminumliner. The tank is a fully carbon composite wrapped, aluminum lined pressure vessel with 47,111cubic inches (0.7721 m3) minimum volume, and 400 psig (2.758 MPa) Maximum DesignPressure (MDP). It was qualified per the requirements of ANSI/AIAA S-081A-2006. Uniquedesign, processing, and inspection techniques were employed to ensure program success. Thedesign, fabrication, contamination control, damage control, and validation test of the GPMpropellant tank are presented in this paper.