DYNAMIC ADHESION MEASUREMENT FOR THE VERIFICATION OF THE GRABBING POSITIONING AND RELEASE MECHANISM FOR THE LISA PATHFINDER TEST MASS RELEASE

摘要

A critical phase for both the joint ESA-NASA scientific mission LISA and its technology demonstrator LISA Pathfinder has been identified in the release to free floating conditions of the 2kg gold-coated Test Mass (TM) on behalf of the Grabbing Positioning and Release Mechanism (GPRM), developed by Thales Alenia Space and RUAG. The main criticality of such a phase consists in the limited allowable velocity of the test mass after detachment from the GPRM. In this paper we deal with the on-ground testing activity of such a phase carried out at the Dept. of Mechanical and Structural Engineering of the University of Trento, where we have developed a facility for the measurement of the impulse exerted by the rupture of the adhesive bonds between representative surfaces of the TM and the release-dedicated subsystem of the GPRM.