Deployment and Stabilisation of a Space Web in Micro-Gravity

Sunday 18 March 2012

SUAINEADH LAUNCH, MONDAY, 1300 (SWEDISH TIME)

We just had the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) of the rockets REXUS 11 and REXUS 12 and the experiments are ready for launch. This is the first time in REXUS history that both rockets are ready ahead of time and therefore it was decided to launch REXUS 12 already tomorrow (Monday) and REXUS 11 on Wednesday. Strathclyde's experiment Suaineadh will be launched onboard REXUS 12.

HOT COUNTDOWN STARTS AT 1300 (Swedish time/ 1200 UK time)! The weather predictions looks favourable with high clouds and winds within the limits.

The link for the livestream is available here:
http://www.livestream.com/rexusbexus

Updates on our facebook page can be followed here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Suaineadh-REXUS12/100114003401934


Special thanks to the Suaineadh launch campaign crew consisting
of Adam, Jerker, Malcolm, Fredrik and Junyi, you did an awesome job over the last seven days. Thank you also to all the team members that couldn't make it to Esrange for the launch, it wouldn't been possible without you.


GODSPEED SUAINEADH, LETS GO FLY :)

About Suaineadh:
Students from three institutions (University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK), University of Glasgow (Glasgow, UK) and KTH (Stockholm, Sweden)) are launching their experiment Suaineadh (pronaunced She-NAID) onboard a sounding rocket in March 2012. The aim of the
experiment is to deploy and stabilise a space web in micro-gravity by means of the centrifugal forces acting on the spinning assembly which is ejected from the nosecone of DLR/SNSB/ESA's REXUS (Rocket EXperiments for University Students) rocket. Controlled web deployment and stabilisation will be achieved by an active control method. This new approach has the potential of drastically simplifying the design of a Furoshiki net while enhancing its stability. The experiment will provide an enormous scientific return on the behaviour of a centrifugally deployed and stabilised large structure in space.

Friday 9 March 2012

Team leaving for LAUNCH CAMPAIGN

This weekend the Suaineadh team will travel to Esrange in Kiruna (Sweden) for the REXUS 11/12 launch. Suaineadh's launch is preliminary scheduled for the 22nd of March onboard REXUS 12, REXUS 11 will be launched on Wednesday the 21st of March. During the first couple of days of the launch campaign the teams will assemble their experiments and get them ready for the integration in the rocket. In the following, the experiments will be tested for interferences with other experiments or the rocket. The preparation finishes with a hot countdown.

Adam and Jerker will be the first of the team that will drive up to Kiruna tomorrow from Stockholm, Malcolm and Thomas will fly in from Glasgow on Monday and Fredrik and Junyi will arrive in Esrange by Tuesday.

During the launch campaign we will have a live stream on how we get Suaienadh ready for the launch and live footage of the RX11/RX12 launch :)