Inflatable Capture Mechanism
Pellegrino, P¹; Nebiolo, M²; De Filippis, P²; Selenu, M²; Palmieri, P²; Gomiero, F²; Monteleone, P³; Coste, P^4
1Thales Alenia Space Italia; ²Thales Alenia Space Italia S.p.A.; ³Aero Sekur; ⁴ESA-ESTEC

The Inflatable Capture Mechanism (ICM) is a device developed by Thales Alenia Space Italia in cooperation with Aero Sekur in the frame of the ESA Aurora Exploration Program.
The ICM is a mechanism to be installed on board a Mars Orbiter in order to catch, transfer and retrieve a Sample Container (SC) from its free flying condition of orbital trajectory around the planet (Mars Sample Return capture scenario).

The developed ICM concept is based on inflatable technology which improves the performances in terms of mass and required stowed volume.

This presentation will describe the ICM design and configuration, its functional aspects and the folding technique with the relevant issue of trapped air minimization.

The activities performed on ICM breadboarding, development and Engineering Model testing will be also discussed, describing the functional testing in ambient and thermal-vacuum environment, the mechanical test results and the inflation time sequence.

The approach and the results of the performed analyses, including inflatable envelope structural sizing, SC rebound simulation, and thermal analysis, will be presented.

The study will raise the TRL level of this technology to a value in between 5 and 6. Currently the ICM is under manufacturing (DDR performed in September '07).