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NASA Space

Instrument and Sensing Technology

Flight Experiments

On this page:

• Past Flight Experiments
  • PAMS (5/96) just flown!
  • BETSCE (5/96) just flown!
  • IAE (5/96) just flown!
  • MACE (3/95) and MODE (6/91, 9/91, and 3/94)
  • CSE (2/95)
  • LITE (9/94)
• Current/Future Flight Experiments
• Additional Information
  • HMC

Past Instrument and Sensing Technology Flight Experiments

• PAMS, the Passive Aerodynamically Stabilized Magnetically Damped Satellite, currently flying as part of the TEAMS payload on STS-77. PAMS deployment (Electronic Still Camera photos and deployment videos) and videos of the stabilized PAMS on flight day 7 and flight day 9.
• BETSCE, the Ten-Kelvin Sorption Cryocooler Experiment, currently flying on STS-77. Real time data from the experiment is available from http://www.natinst.com/shuttle/data.htm. Click here for the BETSCE Bulletin - Current Experiment Status.
• IAE. Although not directly supported by the Instrument and Sensing Technology program, we are very interested in the results of the OSAT IAE (Inflatable Antenna Experiment) which flew on day two of the STS-77 mission. Several sites provide information on the IAE:
  • Videos of the IAE deployment and Electronic Still Camera photos of the deployed IAE.
  • The Inflatable Antenna Experiment (Spartan 207) from the Spartan Project at GSFC.
  • The Inflatable Antenna Experiment from JPL.
  • IN-STEP Inflatable Antenna Experiment page from the JPL Space Very Long Baseline Interferometry Project.
  • JPL Press Release: INDUSTRY PARTNER TO BE HONORED FOR INFLATABLE ANTENNA WORK from the JPL image/information archives.
• High Precision Pointing and Vibration Control Technology Tested in Space! The Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) is exploring approaches to achieve high precision pointing and vibration control of future spacecraft and satellites. MACE was designed by the Space Engineering Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the eight University Space Engineering Research Centers, in collaboration with Payload Systems Incorporated, the NASA Langley Research Center, and Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. The experiment flew in March, 1995 on STS-67. MACE builds upon the concept of the Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE), which flew on STS-40, STS-48, and STS-62 as a dynamics test facility to characterize fluid, Space Station structure, and crew motion dynamics in zero-gravity. MACE augments the MODE facility with real-time, digital control capabilities.
• Cooler Technology Tested in Space! The Cryo Systems Experiment (CSE) flew on the space shuttle Discovery in February 1995. CSE is a space flight experiment conducted by the Hughes Aircraft Co., in a cooperative program with NASA. The overall goal is to validate and characterize the on-orbit performance of two thermal management technologies that comprise a hybrid cryogenic system. These thermal management technologies consist of: 1) a new generation, long life, low vibration, 65 K Stirling-cycle cryocooler, and 2) an oxygen diode heat pipe that thermally couples the cryocooler and a cryogenic thermal energy storage device. Click here for more information on the overall shuttle mission (STS-63).
• Laser Technology Tested in Space! The Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE) mission is the first to use lasers in space for study of the Earth's atmospheric environment. The instrument was launched on the space shuttle Discovery on September 9, 1994 and landed on September 20. Click here for more information on this shuttle mission. See also the prelaunch and postlaunch LITE summary articles from the publication Space Technology Innovations.

Current/Future Instrument and Sensing Technology Flight Experiments

Descriptions of planned future flight experiments will be available soon. This is not a complete list:

Additional Information

• HMC (Hydrogen Maser Clock). We recently had to make the unfortunate but necessary decision to cancel plans for the Hydrogen Maser Clock flight experiment. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory was under contract to the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to develop the Hydrogen Maser Clock (HMC). HMC was scheduled to be transported to the Russian Space Station, Mir, on STS-86 (September 1997) to be be attached to the Mir Docking Module via astronaut EVA. A click here for a description of the HMC from the The Crustal Dynamics Data Information System at GSFC. See also the Space Clocks and Frequency Control Technology page for background on the space use of hydrogen maser clocks, etc.

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