May 30, 2012

In the Loop: Shake, shock, and bake – RBSP's integration and testing 2012

This compilation video highlights some of the lengthy and rigorous testing that NASA's twin Radiation Belt Storm Probe spacecraft underwent at APL prior to shipping to the Kennedy Space Center on May 1, 2012. The spacecraft continue their launch processing in Florida in preparation for a scheduled launch on August 23, 2012.

Shown here are:

• Solar array deployment testing
• The propulsion water load test, in which water, instead of propellant, is loaded into the spacecraft for testing purposes
• The stacked vibration test to simulate the physical rigors of launch on the two stacked spacecraft
• The separation system shock test, which tests the separation of the two RBSP spacecraft from each other after reaching orbit
• Launch Vehicle/spacecraft B separation system shock test, which tests the separation of the B spacecraft from the launch vehicle after reaching orbit
• Whip boom deployment test (deploying one of the EFW instrument booms)
• Thermal vacuum system test, which simulates the airless environment and extreme temperature fluctuations in which RBSP will operate on orbit

The Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission is part of NASA’s Living With a Star program, which is managed by Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., manages the mission and is building and will operate the RBSP spacecraft for NASA.

Video: JHU/APL