MSR165 data logger on its way to the International Space Station ISS

MSR data logger for monitoring the cargo hold

A two-stage "Antares" launcher took Orbital's unmanned space capsule into space for its first test mission in 2013. In addition to food, medical supplies, scientific aids, materials and equipment for the ISS crew, the Cygnus also carried 10 MSR165 data loggers equipped with 3-axis acceleration sensors. The aim of the measurements was to record the entire transportation route in terms of shock and vibration, as some of the cargo was particularly sensitive to stress. The MSR data loggers with their highly sensitive sensors are particularly suitable for use in space freighters because they can carry out and store precise measurements autonomously over a long period of time and are also very lightweight and small in size.

During the test mission, the Cygnus space transporter docked with the International Space Station (ISS) for 23 days and then left the space station again. The data recorded by the MSR data loggers was successfully analyzed by Orbital. The next mission to the ISS (Orb-1) took place on January 9, 2014, again with 10 MSR measuring devices on board the Cygnus. The Orbital-2 mission was launched in mid-July of this year. The 3-axis acceleration sensors of the MSR data loggers again measured the loads both during the launch and during the entire flight into space until docking with the ISS and recorded these G-forces in the internal memory. Based on these recordings, the crew was able to recognize whether critical loads had affected the sometimes very sensitive cargo during the unmanned flight.

Michael Bain comments again: "We are able to track virtually every physical event that occurs on the spacecraft from roll-out to the launch pad, to rocket rotation to the vertical, to ignition, launch, main engine cut-off, stage separation, upper stage ignition and burn-out, fairing separation, ... even the movement of the spacecraft while attached to the space station arm. We are getting our money's worth, thanks to the hard work of the folks at MSR." ("We can literally reproduce every physical event that affects the transporter: from the roll onto the launch pad, to the rotation of the rocket into the vertical, the ignition, the launch, the separation of the main engine, the separation of the stages, the ignition and burnout of the upper stage, the separation of the fairing, ... right up to the movement of the space transporter while the robotic arm of the space station has it under control. A worthwhile investment for us in every respect - thanks to the dedicated work of the MSR team."). The data from the MSR loggers is read out by the astronauts on the ISS via a microSD card on the PC and transmitted back to the Orbital crew on Earth. Orbital compares the recorded data with previous model calculations and forecasts and then sends an analysis of the cargo loads to NASA as proof of best practice.

The batteries used in the measuring devices are individually and intensively tested and numbered before each mission at NASA's battery testing facility at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. After successful testing, they are installed in the MSR data loggers. Each of these loggers is given a serial number and a certificate by MSR, which confirms that the installed batteries have been tested by NASA. Each individual MSR data logger is then rechecked and activated at Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Virginia, before being transported to the launch site, the Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) on Wallops Island, on the coast of Virginia. Once activated and prepared, the MSR data loggers are installed at predetermined locations in the cargo bay.

MSR's data loggers have now been deployed three times for Orbital: test mission in September 2013, Orb-1 in January 2014 and Orb-2 in July 2014. You can see the preparations for Orb-3 in the exciting report in "Eco", the business magazine of SRF, Swiss Television.

Mission update Orb-3:

The next Cygnus / Antares launch was scheduled for October 28, 2014. As Orbital Sciences announced in a press release, the Antares rocket lifted off on time at 6.22 p.m. on Tuesday evening, but exploded a few seconds later.

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