AFRL Technology Demonstrated on NASA Moon Mission

  • Published
  • By Jeanne Dailey
  • Space Vehicles
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico --  NASA used two AFRL-developed motorized lightband separation systems, providing highly reliable low-shock separation for Air Force spacecraft on a mission to the moon launched in late 2013. The motorized lightband is the premier, low-shock (non-pyrotechnic) separation system for spacecraft up to 1200 pounds. This system minimizes structural overdesign, reduces the potential for component breakage, and eliminates the need to store and manage pyrotechnic devices in Air Force facilities. The innovative system is lowering costs and simplifying payload integration for Air Force satellite systems. AFRL developed the lightband separation systems with Planetary Systems Corporation under an AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate Small Business Innovation Research effort.

The lightband separation systems have been used on many space programs, including AFRL's ANGELS, DSX, TacSat-2 and TacSat-3, as well as NASA's GRAIL and IBEX, the Operationally Responsive Space Office satellites ORS-1 and JumpStart, and the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's STP-1 and STP-S26.

The AFRL-developed motorized lightband separation systems were launched on NASA's Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Experiment (LADEE) mission on a Minotaur V rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia, on 7 September 2013. The LADEE mission will gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface, and environmental influences on lunar dust.