Construction of the Space probe for NASA's Psyche Mission

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

speaking of covered crossbars, anyone who knows me knows that as a retired researcher I can't stop thinking about it and I want to know what it looks like underneath.

So I continued searching and actually found what I was looking for.

In this photo from an early phase of the construction of the solar probe (2021-03-29) you can also see the uncovered rod system, which consists of more struts than previously assumed.


Source: NASA

Now I don't want to recreate that exactly, but the insight alone helps me with my scratch build, as I can at least modify the back of the rod system a little, so that the rear Blanket should then resemble the shape of the images shown in the last post and look better.

In this way one can get the model closer and closer to the original until you are satisfied with the result.

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

finally someone from the forum.nasaspaceflight.com experts did speak out.

"They're pieces of fiberglass tape that reinforce the thermal blanket tie-downs. Apparently the Psyche spacecraft vendor liked to use that method, which I hadn't seen previously on spacecraft from other vendors."

That sounds very interesting, and I asked him, if he knows what material the thermal blankets are made of?

I still think that they are some kind of tags of the positions of special equipment or sensors of the probe, especially since on some of them at high magnification one can see inscriptions that I have circled.


Source: NASA

Although I am only a retired materials researcher and not a space probe designer, in addition to my model building, I am still interested in these technical details and their special tasks especially in the view of technology assessment I was also working.

That's why I wanted to ask the manufacturer, Maxar Technologies in Westminster (Colorado), already.

Wait and see.

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

this contact lead me to an interesting source, the Red Book by the Sheldahl Corporation, the global specialists for Heat management materials, who have provided corresponding solutions for every major US Space Program since the 1950s, as are particularly needed for Lunar modules, Space probes, Space telescopes, etc. so that their electronics can work.


Source: Sheldahl Corporation

"Since it was first published, the Red Book has been recognized as one of the industry’s leading sources for information on aerospace technologies."

Accordingly, the probe claddings are Multilayer Insulation (MLI) Blankets, which are fitted with MLI ceiling fastening tapes (MLI Blanket closure tapes), which are intended to prevent gaps in the insulating layer.

"Depending on the specific needs of your mission, the number of layers and thickness of our MLI blanket materials can be adjusted to provide the optimal level of insulation. And because our MLI blanket materials are lightweight, they can help reduce the overall spacecraft weight, allowing for a larger payload on board." Source: Sheldahl (Red Book)

So much for this problem of thermal protection, which has now become a lot clearer to me thanks to the support from your NSF Forum, which is why I will adapt my space probe claddings a little more.

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

the more closely I look at the original photos, the more some details of my previous solution still seem to need improvement.

As a first detail, I took another look at the upper blanketing of the X-Band High Gain Antenna and discarded my previous solution because its silver foil isn't wrinkled as much and only the struts in the form of the Mercedes star become apparent underneath.

That's why I thought of a film can (Ø 31 mm) from from yesteryear to support the enveloping black cladding, on which I taped the slant with a narrow strip of tape,



and then have carefully cut it off with the fine saw.



Then I discarded the previous somewhat battered blue cap from the Paper Kit,



and replaced it with a new one made of cardboard, onto which I've glued the three struts made of brass wire so that they would hopefully become apparent out a little under the smooth silver foil,



which worked out quite well.





Then I still glued the slightly folded black AE paper around the bottom part,



wherewith I'll leave it at that for now.



I then glued the Top Deck of the probe with my AE black paper.





As next detail I still will have to modify the rod systems a little bit, as I don't like the previous version with the black AE paper glued to cardboard, because the blankets just seem too flat,





and should look a little more 'airy'.

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

that's why I rebuilt the rods new again, for which I used Evergreen Styrene Rods (Ø 0,88 mm), which I taped on my template fixed and then glued together.

First I've cut the struts for the two side rod systems and glued them together.



So that the individual rods cannot slip, my tried and tested pin-pin technique on a balsa plate was used again.







Then the struts for the rear rod system were glued together.





And this is what the finished three rod systems look like:





for which I will now prepare the blankets from the black AE paper.

[adolfocaetnonetto]

I'm loving this mounting! I love scratch!

[spacerunner]

Thanks Adolfo for your interest.

Yep, scratch building is an interesting challenge for me over and over.

I hope you will stay tuned.

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

before that, I wanted to try on the three rod systems on the space probe, but I didn't want to glue them together, but only have connected them movable with Masking tape (1,5 mm) so that I could spread them out again to attach the black MLI Blankets to make this tricky work a little easier.



And so far I really like the arrangement. After blanketing with the blankets made of AE paper, one can no longer see any of the rod systems anyway.



And the new X-Band High Gain Antenna also fits the picture well,



so that I can now confidently tackle the tricky blankets.