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The goal of this project is to develop satellite components for space-based astronomical satellite payloads. Thereby advanced materials like iridium and innovative manufacturing technologies will be applied. After environmental testing and space qualifications tests it is planned to do an astronomical experiment with a stratospheric balloon or a sounding rocket. The work is embedded in ACCASI („Aschaffenburg Competence Center for Astronomical and Space Instumentation“)
X-ray telescopes usually operate in space and are quite different from astronomical telescopes for visible light. For normal angles of incidence, optical light is reflected on the mirror surface, whereas X-rays are either transmitted or absorbed. However, also high reflectivity X-rays mirrors are possible, when the incident rays direction is almost parallel to the mirror surface. Such grazing incidence mirrors are usually coated with thin layers of precious metals like iridium, gold or platinum, as this result in high X-ray reflectivity. These noble metals offer a wide range of reflection up to high photon energies, but, due to a series of absorption edges, have low reflectivity in the 2 - 4 keV band and below. This contribution presents the development of innovative material combinations based on thin layers of iridium and chromium, followed by an additional layer of carbon-based materials. We also discuss corresponding production methods (like dip coating) for enhanced reflectivity mirror coatings of future X-ray telescopes.
Recent progress in nanosatellite technologies allows to consider innovative new CubeSat missions for scientific purposes. We present and evaluate the design of a small and cost effective CubeSat mission to monitor lunar meteoroid impacts by detecting their optical flashes. The poster summarizes the results of a comprehensive survey of past and recent ground based and satellite based projects focussing on lunar impact monitoring and discusses important aspects of the proposed mission and various alternatives for their solutions. Several spacecraft orbits around Moon and their usefulness for lunar impact observation are studied. In addition, we discuss the environmental risks and challenges, which such spacecraft needs to face, mainly thermal management and radiation tolerance. Finally, we present and discuss the design an optical camera suitable to detect meteoroid impacts on the lunar surface.
The EU intends to restrict the use of critical fuels in space propulsion systems. These propellants like hydrazine are chemically aggressive, toxic and carcinogenic. Space propulsion of the future should be environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and easy to handle. Aschaffenburg University and DLR are currently developing environmentally friendly technologies for future satellite engines. Thereby rocket-grade hydrogen peroxide, which is foreseen as a substitute, is converted to uncritical water vapour and oxygen by an exothermic catalytic reaction on nanostructured iridium layers. The resulting hot gases provide the required amount of thrust. The iridium catalyst layers are coated onto ceramic pellets, using RF magnetron sputtering technology. The catalytic functionality was tested afterwards at the chemical laboratories of DLR. First experimental results show a significantly higher catalytic activity for nanostructured iridium surfaces than for smoother crystalline layers.