Very timely class today for Terry and myself at JAXA. Just a few hours ago on ISS a last group of CubeSats was deployed by the Japanese robotic arm (JEM RMS) and we got trained today just on that: crew operations in support of such deployments.
In fact, it seems that the JEM RMS will be busy launching nanosatellites in the coming years. It’s a great way to put small, relatively simple hardware on orbit at an affordable price!
So, how are the nanosatellites deployed? They arrive to ISS on a cargo vehicle, mounted in an assembly that includes not only the satellite itself, but also the deployment system: as far as I understand, that’s a simple spring-loaded mechanism.
The task of the astronauts is to mount the satellite/deployment system combination on a dedicated platform, that can be grappled by the robotic arm. As you can see in the picture, the arm then moves into a release position – one that makes sense from an orbital mechanics point of view – and the release system is activated. In an instant, the nanosatellites are on their way to do whatever job the designers constructed them for.
You might be asking yourself now how the platform with the satellites get outside of ISS to be grabbed by the JEM RMS. Well, the JEM has this really cool piece of hardware: an actual airlock. Crewmembers attach the platform with the satellite to an interface, which is mounted on a slide table. Slide the table into the airlock, close the internal hatch, depress the airlock, slide the table out onto the JEM Exposed facility; then release the platform from the slide table, but only after the JEM RMS has grappled it.
After the satellites are on their way, the JEM RMS brings the now empty platform back to the slide table, so that it can be brought back inside, ready for the next batch of nanosatellites.
(Picture: NASA)
(Trad IT) Traduzione in italiano a cura di +AstronautiNEWS qui:
https://www.astronautinews.it/tag/logbook/
(Trad ES) Tradducción en español aquí:
https://www.intervidia.com/category/bitacora/
(Trad FR) Traduction en français par +Anne Cpamoa ici:
https://spacetux.org/cpamoa/category/traductions/logbook-samantha/
28/02/2014