European retrievable carrier Eureca servicing by Hermes

Abstract It has been demonstrated that HERMES with a cargo bay configuration as depicted in figure 1 (5 m length, 3 m diam.) with Handling and Positioning Aid (HPA) and HERMES Robotic Arm (HERA) is capable to service a small platform like EURECA, which is an NSTS quarter payload. Only 1 3 of the HERMES cargo bay volume and payload mass is required for the accommodation of the payload Orbital Replaceable Units. By implementing two additional hydrazine tanks refuelling can be avoided for a two-years EURECA mission. The overall servicing configuration is described as follows: The European Retrievable Carrier EURECA-B is mechanically attached through its -y-side sill trunnion to the HERMES berthing port. The HERMES cargo bay doors with radiators are opened and oriented to earth. The HERMES Robotic Arm is equipped with a Module Service Tool (MST) ready for Orbital Replaceable Unit (ORU) exchange. The HERMES berthing port is located at the rear side of the cargo bay in order to achieve best visibility, clearance and accessibility of the HERMES Robotic Arm operation within the cargo bay and the EURECA payload area. The EURECA solar arrays and antennas remain deployed. During the servicing operation, power will be provided by the fully deployed solar arrays. In order to minimize the plume impingement effect, the solar array edge is directed to the HERMES wing.