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LAPLander

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

LAPLander (short for a light airbag-protected lander) is a prototype of a space probe primarily intended for measurements in the ionosphere. The prototype aims to evaluate the flight characteristics, e.g. air braking, of a flight from the border of space. Furthermore, the impact protection and recovery systems will be evaluated.[1] As the name says, the recovery system is based on airbags, that serve both deceleration and impact protection.[2] The future version of LAPLander will make it possible to do multi-point measurements, which will be of great help in the research of the complex processes within the ionosphere that contributes to auroras and disturbances in satellite communication.

Rexus flight

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Laplander is selected for the REXUS/BEXUS program [3] and was launched on a sounding rocket flight from Esrange Space Center (outside Kiruna) in March 2010. The rocket is unguided, spin-stabilized, and powered by an Improved Orion motor, which is capable to bring the payload to an apogee of 100 km,[4] which is the border to space.[5] The event is sponsored by the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA) and the German Space Agency (DLR), in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Flight characteristics

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To reconstruct the flight, LAPLander will record the following parameters:

  • Three-axis acceleration
  • Three-axis rotation rate
  • Three-component magnetic field
  • Temperature (for various parts of the payload)
  • Raw GPS data

The latter is provided a cooperation with Cornell University, New York, United States. The device to be used is a novel miniature GPS, that in contrast to a common GPS can determine the attitude. This is made by measuring the phase difference from the GPS signal between two antennas.[2]

Development

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The development of LAPlander started in 2008 and took place at the Alfvén Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

The LAPLander team

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The team[1] behind this project consists of:

Overall issues:

  • Dr. Nickolay Ivchenko, supervisor, Sweden
  • Torbjörn Sundberg, team leader, Ph.D. student, Sweden

Mechanical and aerodynamical issues:

  • Matias Wartelski, MSc aerospace engineering student, Spain
  • Christian Westlund, MSc aerospace engineering student, Sweden
  • Li Xin, MSc aerospace engineering student, China
  • Erik Sund, MSc aerospace engineering student, Sweden
  • Patrtik Ahlen, MSc aerospace engineering student, Sweden

Electrical issues:

  • Malin Gustafsson, MSc electrical engineering student, Sweden
  • Joakim Sandström, MSc electrical engineering student, Sweden
  • Oliver Neuner, MSc electro physics student, Germany
  • Christian Jonsson, MSc mechatronics engineering student, Sweden
  • Johan Juhlén, MSc mechatronics engineering student, Sweden
  • Johan Thelander, MSc mechatronics engineering student, Sweden
  • Mattias Hedberg, MSc mechatronics engineering student, Sweden

See also

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References

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