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08/11/2006
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| Faced with an aggressive schedule in order to meet a requirement to replace
an ailing weather spacecraft whose scheduled replacement had been destroyed
in a launch failure, Alliance Spacesystems produced an optical bench for
an instrument on the Japanese MTSAT-1R spacecraft, launched February 2005.
Constructed of six unique optimized honeycomb panels with M55J carbon epoxy
face sheets and aluminum core, the bench envelope is 0.5 by 0.6 by 1.0
meters to support 10 major subassemblies with a total instrument mass exceeding
100 kilograms. The bench had demanding thermal and alignment requirements
but also had to be light (actual weight 17.8 kilograms) and meet strict
frequency minimums. To meet these demanding requirements, Alliance developed
its patented “Castle Joint” for improved panel-to-panel load
transfer and thermal performance. Other requirements included support of
a heavy cantilevered scan mirror and the incorporation of a large removable
panel for installation of optics. The bench met all performance requirements
yet was delivered within nine months. |
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Last Updated ( 08/20/2006 )
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Structures 
