Microgravity Emissions Laboratory Developed

Abstract

The Microgravity Emissions Laboratory (MEL) was developed for the support, simulation, and verification of the International Space Station microgravity environment. The MEL utilizes an inertial measurement system using acceleration emissions generated by various operating components of the space station. These emissions, if too large, could hinder the science performed on the space station by disturbing the microgravity environment. Typical test components are disk drives, pumps, motors, solenoids, fans, and cameras. These components will produce inertial forces, which disturb the microgravity on-orbit station environment. These components, usually housed within a station rack, must meet acceleration limits imposed at the rack interface for minimizing the onboard station-operating environment. The NASA Glenn Research Center developed this one-of-a-kind laboratory for testing components and, eventually, rack-level configurations. The MEL approach is to measure the component's generated inertial forces. This force is a product of the full diagonal mass matrix including the test setup (the center of gravity, mass moment of inertia, and weight) and the resolved diagonal rigid-body acceleration determined from measurements using the 10 apparatus accelerometers. The mass matrix can be test derived. The bifilar torsional pendulum method is used to measure the moment of inertia for the test component.