Mechanical Systems Engineering (MSE)

Mechanical Systems Engineering (MSE) is the place to go for comprehensive design and development of instruments and spacecraft. From small components to complete spacecraft, MSE provides the expertise to conceive and execute designs to customer requirements.

Mechanical Systems Engineering provides and coordinates multidisciplinary support across the applied mechanical engineering fields. MSE consists of engineers from a variety of engineering disciplines. Each engineer has at least ten years of experience in other engineering fields. This experience is applied to design, analyze, fabricate, integrate, test, and launch advanced scientific instruments and support platforms for a variety of ground-based, suborbital and orbital, Earth, and space science missions. MSE has experience in selecting, promoting, developing, and infusing mechanical systems technologies that enable and enhance these missions. MSE also performs system analysis, simulation, trade-off, and evaluation studies to aid in the development of systems.

The diversity of expertise in the MSE group is valuable in coordinating and generating proposals. In cooperation with experimenters and study teams, MSE conducts conceptual and feasibility studies for new instruments and spacecraft. Studies include system-level performance, cost, and schedule trade-offs. MSE has a proven program management capability including cost containment and on-schedule delivery. MSE has proven flight experience with 100% on-orbit performance.

The MSE team was an essential player in the design, development, analysis, fabrication, integration, test, and launch of the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) Satellite. The MSE team participated in, managed, or directed each mechanical and structural phase of this program.

Experience
Mechanical Systems Engineering's applicable capabilities span a broad spectrum of activities including

• Structural loads analysis
• Structural dynamics analysis
• Thermo-mechanical analysis
• STOP analysis
• Mechanisms design
• Electromechanical design
• Controls
• Systems integration and testing
• Program development
• Budgeting and scheduling
• Concepts development
• Satellite design
• Optomechanical design

Program Experience
Recent examples of our program experience include

• Hubble Space Telescope (HST)–GSFC
  — Develop instruments
  — Train shuttle crew members
  — EVA Systems development
  — Hardware fabrication
• International Space Station (ISS)–JSC
• Hardware development and fabrication
• Shuttle payload carriers development–GSFC
• Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP)–GSFC
  — Develop mechanical structural system
  — Design scientific instruments and spacecraft mechanical systems
  — Direct and perform the instrument optical alignment
  — Direct and perform integration and environmental testing
  — Hardware fabrication
• Solar Occultation FTS for Inclined Orbit (SOFIS)
  — Design and develop the composite optical bench
  — Develop thermal control system
  — Develop kinematic bench mounts
• Next Generation Space Telescope–GSF
• Develop conceptual designs
• MARS Exploration
  — Egress test rover hardware
• MARS Drill Study
  — Development hardware

Tools
MSE's broad spectrum of tasks require a variety of tools; the main tools are

• Pro/ENGINEER
• Pro/MECHANICA
• Structural Thermal Optical Performance (STOP) Analysis
• NASTRAN
• FEMAP
• Mathcad
• Matlab
• LabVIEW
• STK

Contact

space@atk.com