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Abstract
Microgravity is a fascinating environment with many and varied applications over
the realms of engineering and science. Unfortunately it is not easy to create
microgravity on the surface of a planet like Earth. All attempts nowadays are
expensive and time consuming. This project tries to show that low gravity can be
reached at much lower costs than current approaches (such as parabolic flights or
drop towers). However, this project is a feasibility study of the technique that can
be used to create a low gravity environment. If this project can demonstrate that
the selected approach is working, it can easily be up scaled for larger payloads or
longer periods of low gravity.
The approach used in this project is to drop a payload off a high altitude balloon.
During the drop the payload is still connected to the balloon’s gondola through a
tether which is unreeled from an ordinary fishing spinning reel. The drop is
decelerated using the internal brake of the fishing reel. As soon as the payload
comes to a halt, it is reeled back up to the gondola and is ready for the next drop.
The project’s name is reel.SMRT (“real smart”). It is being realized within the
BEXUS (Balloon Experiment for University Students) campaign organised and
sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Swedish Space Corporation
(SSC) and the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR). The student
group designing and building this experiment consists of nine students originating
from eight different countries. All of them are currently enrolled in the Erasmus
Mundus sponsored SpaceMaster programme.
The reel.SMRT team has finished the design of the mechanical, electrical and
software part of the experiment. With this document the design will be presented
to a board of experts from ESA, DLR, SSC and SNSB at the Preliminary Design
Review (PDR) in order to refine the design and gather feedback. This document
will be enhanced further during the development phase of the experiment. Until
then the experiment will be reviewed several more times with the aim to lead this
exciting experiment to a successful flight on a balloon taking off from Esrange in
northern Sweden in the first week of October 2009.
RXBX-09-03-15_PDR_ESA.docx