LAPLander
 | This article needs to be updated. (September 2011) |
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
The development of LAPlander started in 2008 and took place at the Alfvén Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
The LAPLander team[edit]
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[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "LAPLander – a student rocket project" Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on 2009-07-15
- ^ a b "LAPLander's REXUS / BEXUS Experiment Proposal" Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on 2009-07-17
- ^ "Experts select future REXUS/BEXUS experiments", Retrieved on 2009-07-15
- ^ "REXUS BEXUS – Rocket and Balloon Experiments for University Students", Retrieved on 2009-07-17
- ^ "Earth's atmosphere", Retrieved on 2009-07-17
External links[edit]
- Official site
- Blog written by the LAPLander team (started 2009-03-13)