Milestones in the Development of EXPLORE
EXPLORE is a complex experiment for the microgravity flight of the REXUS rocket. From its conception in 2009 to the flight and data analysis in spring 2011, many more or less official milestones need to be tackled by the team. Here we present some of them1
- Overview of the EXPLORE project timeplan
| Timeframe/Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2009, 1 Sept. | Announcement of opportunity for the REXUS 9/10 experiments | completed |
| 2009, fall | Formulation of the EXPLORE idea and design of the experiment concept by aerospace students at the University of Stuttgart, Germany | completed |
| 2009, 16 Nov. | Submission of the EXPLORE experiment proposal to DLR | completed |
| 2009, 20 Nov. | Announcement of the pre-selected experiment proposals and invitation to the selection workshop by DLR | selected |
| 2009, 14-15 Dec. | Selection workshop at the DLR Space Agency in Bonn-Oberkassel, Germany: resentation of the project concept | passed |
| 2009, 21 Dec. | Announcement of final selection of experiments for the REXUS 9/10 flights | selected |
| 2010, 1-5 Feb. | Student Training Week and Preliminary Design Review (PDR) at Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden | passed |
| 2010, 11 April | 1st REXUS Public Day at the Yuri's Night 2010 in the Planetarium Stuttgart, Germany: EXPLORE presents together with other experiment teams to the public and press | completed |
| 2010, 23-24 April | 1st EXPLORE test weekend at the IRS in Stuttgart, Germany | completed |
| 2010, 21 May | 2nd EXPLORE test weekend at the IRS in Stuttgart, Germany | completed |
| 2010, 8-9 June | Critical Design Review (CDR) at the DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany | passed |
| 2010, 16 July | CDR-SED Update Delivery | delivered |
| 2010, 23-24 July | 3rd EXPLORE test weekend at the IRS in Stuttgart, Germany | completed |
| 2010, 17-19 Sept. | 4th EXPLORE test weekend at the IRS in Stuttgart, Germany | completed |
| 2010, 5 Oct. | IPR-SED Delivery | delivered |
| 2010, 8-11 Oct. | 5th EXPLORE test weekend at the IRS in Stuttgart, Germany | completed |
| 2010, 12 Oct. | Interim Progress Review (IPR) at the IRS in Stuttgart, Germany | passed |
| 2010, 14 Oct. | Vacuum test at the IRS in Stuttgart | passed |
| 2010, 15 Oct. | Thermal-vacuum test at the IRS in Stuttgart | passed |
| 2010, 4 Nov. | First vibration testing at the DLR in Stuttgart | passed |
| 2010, 13-14 Nov. | 6th EXPLORE test weekend at the IRS in Stuttgart, Germany | completed |
| 2010, 20-21 Nov. | 7th EXPLORE test weekend at the IRS in Stuttgart, Germany | completed |
| 2010, 22 Nov. | EXPLORE service simulator test at DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany | passed |
| 2010, 4-5 Dec. | EXPLORE final integration at the IRS in Stuttgart, Germany | completed |
| 2010, 7-8 Dec. | Final vibration testing of the EXPLORE experiment at the DLR in Bremen, Germany Experiment delivery and Experiment Acceptance Review (EAR) |
passed |
| 2010, 9-10 Dec. | Payload integration tests at the DLR in Bremen, Germany | passed |
| 2011, 17-18 Jan. | REXUS 9 Bench Test at DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen | passed |
| 2011, 31 Jan. | REXUS 9/10 Spin Test at Inventia in Stockhom | passed |
| 2011, 14-26 Feb. | REXUS 9/10 Launch Campaign at the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden | in planning |
2011, 22 Feb |
REXUS 9 launch from Esrange Space Center |
success! |
| 2011, 22-26 May | 20th ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research in Hyères, France | completed |
| 2011, 30 May | DLGR Space Conference in Stuttgart | completed |
| 2011, June | Delivery of final documentation of the experiment, including the technical design and the scientific results, to DLR | completed |
| 2011, 6-9 Sep. | ELGRA Symposium "Gravity: from µ to x !" in Antwerp, Belgium | completed |
| 2011, 3-7 Oct. | 62nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Cape Town, South Africa | completed |