Erasable Disk Mass Memory, STEP Mission 3 Integration and Flight Support; Post Flight Performance Report

摘要

This final report deals primarily with the performance of the Erasable Disk Mass Memory (EDMM) component that was developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The program objective was to determine feasibility and, if possible, develop a space qualified mass data storage system using commercial magnetic disk drive technology. After determining the concept feasibility, two units were built. One flight unit was scheduled to fly on Step Mission 3 in order to gather space flight data on the unit/design. The failure of the STEP-3 mission prevented detailed study of the unit's performance on orbit. A similar unit was flown on the MSTI-3 spacecraft allowing a more limited evaluation of the on orbit performance. There is a brief description of the entire program and its progression as well as descriptions of the design goals and achievements. The report also describes the on orbit performance of the design as flown on the MISTI-3 spacecraft.