PICARD

PICARD PICARD (Prototype Inflatable Conical Antenna - REXUS Deployment) experiment for sounding rocket REXUS 19/20 to be launched in spring 2016

The PICARD (Prototype Inflatable Conical Antenna - REXUS Deployement) experiment serves the purpose on bringing the inflatable conical helix antenna to a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and prove its functionality in a space like environment. For this purpose it will be launched onboard a REXUS sounding rocket (REXUS/BEXUS program of DLR, SNSB and ESA ) to an altitude of 90km altitude and

a milligravity time of around 140 seconds. The primary goal lies within the deployment behaviour characterization while the secondary goal is of the validation on the deployed antenna performance. Over the last year, a study funded by UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) was carried out by the University of Strathclyde and the University of Birmingham on the use of an inflatable conical helix antenna for the WISCER (Wideband Ionospheric Sounder Cubesat Experiment) mission investigating the ionosphere. The work carried out in Glasgow was focused on the development of the technologies to deploy this inflatable conical helix antenna from a storage a third of a 3U cube satellite. Not only will this test validate the deployment method but also provide information on how the antenna inflates, settles and rigidises which are critical to the final design of the conical helix WISCER cubesat design. This is the case as the shape of the conical helix antenna determines the properties of the signal transmitted. For the WISCER experiment a known wideband radar signal is transmitted from WISCER, down through the ionosphere to a receiving station on Earth. The changes that occur to this known signal are the ionospheric effects to be investigated. This test will allow detailed knowledge to be factored into the design of the antenna and subsequently result in greatly enhanced accuracy of the ionospheric data.

The BEAM inflatable module is being inflated on the ISS right now. Wishing them luck from the PICARD team! ...
26/05/2016

The BEAM inflatable module is being inflated on the ISS right now. Wishing them luck from the PICARD team! ...

NASA Television provides live coverage of launches, spacewalks and other mission events, as well as the latest news briefings, video files, and the This Week report.

Congratulations SpaceX! Congratualtions on a successful launch of Dragon and the first landing of the first stage on the...
08/04/2016

Congratulations SpaceX! Congratualtions on a successful launch of Dragon and the first landing of the first stage on the drone ship! Just for the record though we put an inflatable in space first...

“The 1st stage of the Falcon 9 just landed on our Of Course I Still Love You droneship. Dragon in good orbit”

Data processing is almost complete at the Universities of Birmingham and Strathclyde, with all the data looking great. W...
07/04/2016

Data processing is almost complete at the Universities of Birmingham and Strathclyde, with all the data looking great. We thought you may enjoy this collection of images of the antenna in space!

18/03/2016

Looks like a complete experiment success! Now waiting on recovery

Pictures from day 2 at Esrange! Rx20 has finished Bench test, we are up tomorrow!
09/03/2016

Pictures from day 2 at Esrange! Rx20 has finished Bench test, we are up tomorrow!

Sewing club at ESRANGE! When you finish working on the payload for the day, there is only one thing to do.
08/03/2016

Sewing club at ESRANGE! When you finish working on the payload for the day, there is only one thing to do.

Preparations for the launch of REXUS 19 in March are continuing right down the middle! Here is a sneak peak at what we h...
09/02/2016

Preparations for the launch of REXUS 19 in March are continuing right down the middle! Here is a sneak peak at what we hope will be a live telemetry stream of the rocket data during flight. Points for spotting the off nominal data!

Bench test is the teams last chance to test and undergo final preparations before launch in Kiruna, Sweden. It is also a...
24/01/2016

Bench test is the teams last chance to test and undergo final preparations before launch in Kiruna, Sweden. It is also a chance to run through both cold and hot test countdowns (a hot countdown includes firing all pyrotechnics!), as practice makes perfect on launch day.
The PICARD team reports many successful tests and a go for flight in March!

PICARD goes to Bremen for Vibration, fit, interference, electrical and ejection tests. All were successful! Bench test u...
14/12/2015

PICARD goes to Bremen for Vibration, fit, interference, electrical and ejection tests. All were successful! Bench test up next in January, at DLR!

Successful ejection test! And on Radio Bremen TV tonight too!
11/12/2015

Successful ejection test! And on Radio Bremen TV tonight too!

What is it like just underneath the nose cone of a REXUS rocket right after it has punched a hole in the atmosphere and ...
04/12/2015

What is it like just underneath the nose cone of a REXUS rocket right after it has punched a hole in the atmosphere and is floating in space? A thermal vacuum chamber is as close as we can get on the ground to finding out! The PICARD electronics are undergoing a series of tests to ensure that they will function correctly in a vacuum and from a chilly -15°C to toasty +60°C!
Thanks to the Astrophysics and Space research group as well as the Space Environment and Radio Engineering research group!

PICARD is all packed up and ready for the big journey! We wave goodbye for now but will meet again in Bremen next week f...
04/12/2015

PICARD is all packed up and ready for the big journey! We wave goodbye for now but will meet again in Bremen next week for integration with the rest of the teams on the rocket!

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University Of Birmingham, Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT

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