Defence and Space

Rocket Payloads

Payload and vehicle support systems are an integral part of the Black Brant program. Designed to meet the needs of experimenters from all over the world, they range from forward ejecting nose fairings to payload recovery by parachute.

OEDIPUS

OEDIPUS-A, launched on January 30, 1989, was a Canadian Space Agency space physics mission undertaken in co-operation with NASA. OEDIPUS-A was launched on a 3-stage Black Brant 10 vehicle from Andoya Rocket Range in Norway. The principle scientific objectives of the mission were to make electric field, electric wave, magnetic field and particle measurements in the earth's ionosphere up to an altitude of 600 km. Bristol was the payload prime contractor with responsibility for mission planning and payload design, manufacture, integration, test and launch support.

OEDIPUS-C, launched on November 6, 1995, was a follow-on mission to the OEDIPUS-A. OEDIPUS-C was flown on a 4-stage Black Brant 12 vehicle launched from Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. The science objectives were to study the natural and artificial waves in the ionospheric plasma as well as the dynamics of a spinning tethered space system. Bristol was the payload prime contractor with responsibility for mission planning and payload design, manufacture, integration, test and launch support.

The mission was 100% successful, with the payload reaching an apogee of 824 km.

Geodesic

The Geoelectrodynamics and Electro-Optical Detection of Electron and Suprathermal Ion Currents (GEODESIC) experiment studied the Northern Lights during a 17 minute suborbital flight on March 4, 2000 from Alaska's Poker Flat launch facility.

The experiments' Black Brant 12 launch vehicle reached an altitude of 1,000 kilometres, allowing the GEODESIC instrument to study small pockets of energy in the upper atmosphere associated with the Northern Lights. These pockets of energy are believed to attain temperatures of more than 1 million degrees Celsius.

Bristol manufactured the Black Brant rocket and built the GEODESIC payload.

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CSAR

CSAR-1 rocket payload was launched on March 19, 1992. CSAR -1 was the first flight in the Canadian Space Agency's "Canadian Microgravity Rocket Program", that focused on the investigation of liquid and gaseous material behaviour in a reduced gravity environment. CSAR-1 was launched on a 2-stage Black Brant 9 vehicle from White Sands Missile Range, NM.

The CSAR-1 mission was comprised of 5 scientific modules, housing 52 experiments, dealing with fluoride glass crystallization, silicon carbide whisker growth, aluminum alloy solidification, and polymer degradation in space. Bristol was the payload prime contractor with responsibility for mission planning and payload design, manufacture, integration, test and launch support. Launch services were procured through NASA.

The payload was carried to an altitude of 240 km and achieved a microgravity period of 6 minutes.

CSAR-2, launched on 8 December 1994, was the second flight in the Canadian Microgravity Rocket Program, for science experiments in a reduced gravity environment. The nature of the CSAR-2 mission was similar to that of CSAR-1. In an effort towards standardization and cost reduction, CSAR-2 re-used many of the standard facilities developed for CSAR-1. Five experiment modules were developed for this payload. Bristol was the payload prime contractor responsible for mission planning and payload design, manufacture, integration, test and launch support.

Manned Space Payloads

Quests

Visuo-motor Coordination Facility

The Visuo-motor Coordination Facility (VCF) is a test platform used to measure the hand-eye coordination and reaction time of subjects in a reduced-gravity environment.

The experiment was launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on the Space Shuttle Columbia in April 1998. The Bristol-manufactured VCF was part of a multi-national group of experiments for NASA's Neurolab Mission.

The VCF experiment was performed by the shuttle crew before, during, and shortly after the Neurolab flight. The recorded data, was analyzed for evidence of deficits to visuo-motor coordination during the early exposure to weightlessness, if any compensation was observable later during the flight, and if any after effects were evident upon return to earth.

A number of paradigms were performed to capture different aspects of the astronauts' performance (i.e., pointing, grasping, tracking movements, and responses to sudden and gradual target changes). The VCF used a laptop computer and reflective optics to present a virtual target image to the astronaut. Stereoscopic cameras measured the astronaut's hand position and movement in response to a set of prescribed target paradigms.

Bristol Aerospace was responsible for the software design, hardware manufacture, test, and interface with NASA on the safety documentation process. The project was sponsored and managed by the Canadian Space Agency, Life Sciences Division, NASA, and the German Space Agency, DARA.

Commercial Floatzone Furnace (CFZF)

Microgravity Vibration Isolation System (MVIS)

PMDIS/TRAC

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