[meteorite-list] Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli Are Joined (ExoMars 2016)

[Ron Baalke]

http://exploration.esa.int/mars/57387-united-they-stand-trace-gas-orbiter-and-schiaparelli-are-joined/

United they stand - Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli are joined
European Space Agency
16 February 2016 

The Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli are now in their launch configuration. 
The ExoMars 2016 spacecraft will remain united until 16 October, when 
the entry, descent and landing demonstrator module will separate from 
the orbiter to descend to the surface of Mars.

The mating of the Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli began on Friday 12 
February with the two spacecraft having been transferred into the fuelling 
area, where a mounting platform surrounding the orbiter facilitates the 
activities that need to be done about 4 m off the ground.
		
TGO and Schiaparelli are mechanically linked with the main separation 
assembly (MSA), which attaches to TGO with 27 screws. The MSA holds onto 
Schiaparelli with three separation mechanisms comprising compressed and 
angled springs that are held by non-explosive actuators (NEA). When the 
NEA's are released on 16 October, as the spacecraft approaches Mars, Schiaparelli 
will be gently pushed away from TGO, at the same time being imparted with 
a rotation that will serve to stabilize its atmospheric entry.

Although this was the third time the two spacecraft have been mated -
the previous occasions being in Cannes during integration and testing 
- it was the first time it was done with Schiaparelli fuelled, which required 
extra safety precautions to be applied.

The next day, Saturday 13 February, all the electrical connections between 
the two spacecraft were made, which meant that some functional checks 
could also be started. These checks, which provide a means of monitoring 
that all systems are behaving as expected and that no problems have been 
introduced by any of the preparations, continued throughout the weekend 
and were completed on Monday 15 February.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, specialists from the Airbus Defence and Space team 
began their preparations for bonding the last few tiles on Schiaparelli. 
Although most of the tiles had been placed and sealed last week, a few 
places on the heat shield had remained 'open' since these were the sites 
of hooks for the equipment that is used to lift Schiaparelli into place 
on the TGO. With this task completed the hooks could be removed and the 
final tiles placed and sealed. These will be finalized on Wednesday 17 
February. (The bonding of the tiles requires some days to allow the bonding 
agent to cure before the final, finishing touches can be applied.)

This week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, TGO and Schiaparelli will 'phone 
home': they will be connected (via the Network Data Interface Unit (NDIU)) 
to the mission operations centre at the European Space Operations Centre 
(ESOC), to run the last of the system verification tests (SVT-2b) on the 
spacecraft.

By the end of the week, the spacecraft will be ready for fuelling of the 
Trace Gas Orbiter.