Vibration Testing of Curiosity’s High-Gain Antenna

NASA runs a number of spectacular current missions. Its Curiosity rover, for example, studies climate and geology on Mars and investigates its habitability. The rover carries a variety of scientific instruments. It has three antennas that serve as both its "voice" and its "ears". The high-gain antenna is used to receive commands for the mission team back on Earth.

Airbus Defence and Space (formerly: EADS CASA) in Madrid/Spain was responsible for design, analysis and full qualification and acceptance testing of Curiosity‘s high-gain communication antenna. They performed  comprehensive vibration tests using a 96-channel m+p VibControl system and a 90 kN shaker. Vibration controllers by m+p international are renowned for their high quality, performance and reliability – hence, characteristics that are crucial for successful testing in aerospace applications.