(CONNECT) The launch of the ESA satellite Smile (Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) in the early hours of May 19 was followed with genuine excitement at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW): Under the leadership of FHNW, a Swiss consortium, made up of KOEGL Space from Dielsdorf in the canton of Zurich and Space Acoustics from Rafz in the same canton, developed the cooling system for the SXI X-ray imager.
The launch, which was broadcast live by the European Space Agency (ESA), took place at 05:52 (CEST) from the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. According to a statement issued by the ESA, the spacecraft’s solar panels were deployed at 06:49, which meant that Smile could then collect sunlight to power its systems and science instruments. The completion of this operation ensured that the launch was regarded as a success.
Smile is a collaborative project between the ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The aim of this mission is to gain a better understanding of space weather in order to make more accurate forecasts. Solar winds and storms have the power to dynamically alter the Earth’s magnetic field, i.e. its protective shield, which can also impact GPS systems, as FHNW explains in an article.
“We are about to witness something we’ve never seen before – Earth’s invisible armor in action”, as ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher explains in the ESA statement. “With Smile, we are pushing the boundaries of science in an effort to answer big questions that have remained a mystery since we discovered, over seventy years ago, that Earth sits safely within a giant magnetic bubble.”
One of the four most important instruments on board Smile, the SXI X-ray imager, will play a part in this. “Notable engineering challenges for the Instrument include the sole use of European parts for all systems and the cryogenic TCS (Thermal Control System)”, according to the project description of the University of Leicester, which is responsible for overall management of the SXI project.
To ensure reliable cooling of the system, the consortium comprising FHNW, KOEGL Space and Space Acoustics, led by FHNW Professor Hans-Peter Gröbelbauer, developed a sort of radiator that reliably cools the imager’s two detectors to -110 degrees Celsius. The task of astrophysicist Professor Dr. Säm Krucker and his FHNW team was to optimize the quality of the captured images.
According to information from FHNW, the expertise of those involved in the FHNW projects is also sought after for two of the ESA’s most important projects in the near future: Envision, which will seek to explore Venus, and ARRAKIHS, for which research will be focused on dark matter and the formation of galaxies on a small scale. ce/mm
