LAPLander (shortening for Light Airbag Protected Lander) is a prototype of a space probe primarily intended for measurements in the ionosphere. The aim for the prototype is to evaluate the flight characteristics, e.g. air braking, of a flight from the border of space. Furthermore, the impact protection and recovery systems will be evaluated. As the name says, the recovery system is based on airbags, that serve both to the deceleration and the impact protection. The future version of LAPLander will make it possible to do multi-point measurements, which will be of great help in research of the complex processes within the ionosphere that contributes to auroras and disturbances in satellite communication.
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Rexus Flight
LAPLander is selected in the Rexus programme and was launched on a sounding rocket flight from Esrange Space Center (outside Kiruna) in March 2010. The rocket is unguided, spin-stabilized and powered by an Improved Orion motor, which is capable to bring the payload to an apogee of 100 km, which is the border to space. The event is sponsored by the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB) and the German Space Agency (DLR), in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA).
Flight Characteristics
In order to reconstruct the flight, LAPLander will record the following parameters:
The latter is provided by a cooperation with Cornell University, New York, United States. The device to be used is a novel miniature GPS system, that in contrast to a common GPS is able to determine the attitude. This is made by measuring the phase difference from the GPS signal between two antennas.
Development
The development of LAPlander started in 2008 and took place at the Alfvén Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
The LAPLander team
The team behind this project consists of:
Overall issues:
Mechanical and aerodynamical issues:
Electrical issues: