STS-74/Mir photogrammetric appendage structural dynamics experiment

The Photogrammetric Appendage Structural Dynamics Experiment (PASDE) is an International Space Station (ISS) Phase-1 risk mitigation experiment. Phase-1 experiments are performed during docking missions of the U.S. Space Shuttle to the Russian Space Station Mir. The purpose of the experiment is to demonstrate the use of photogrammetric techniques for determination of structural dynamic mode parameters of solar arrays and other spacecraft appendages. Photogrammetric techniques are a low cost alternative to appendage mounted accelerometers for the ISS program. The objective of the first flight of PASDE, on STS-74 in November 1995, was to obtain video images of Mir Kvant-2 solar array response to various structural dynamic excitation events. More than 113 minutes of high quality structural response video data was collected during the mission. The PASDE experiment hardware consisted of three instruments each containing two video cameras, two video tape recorders, a modified video signal time inserter, and associated avionics boxes. The instruments were designed, fabricated, and tested at the NASA Langley Research Center in eight months. The flight hardware was integrated into standard Hitchhiker canisters at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and then installed into the Space Shuttle cargo bay in locations selected to achieve good video coverage and photogrammetric geometry.