Success Stories

Space Industry Skillnet Member has Three in a Row Success in Space

ACRA CONTROL LTD has had extraordinary success in space recently...

Space Industry Skillnet member ACRA CONTROL LTD, Dublin, have shown how hard work and high end skills development can pay off with real commercial opportunities in the space industry. The company has had three extraordinary space related successes in the last few weeks;

DELTA II Launch (Image: NASA)

On 27th September 2007 a Boeing Delta II rocket lifted the US "DAWN" spacecraft into orbit to start it's journey to the Asteroid belt. The rugged data acquisition equipment produced by ACRA CONTROL had been selected by Boeing to attach to the Delta II launcher to monitor vibration near the rocket motor end of the launch vehicle, in a very harsh environment for electronics.

On 2nd October 2007 it was revealed that Alliant Techsystems Inc. a US company responsible for building the first stage of NASA's Ares 1 vehicle, which will carry humans to the moon. The company said that it successfully conducted the first in a series of six parachute tests for the launch of NASA's Ares 1 vehicle involving the dropping of a 20 tonne test system from 5000 m from a C17 aircraft. The The tests are for the development of the deceleration system including a one-ton, 150-foot-diameter Ares main parachute, which is the largest parachute of this type in use. ACRA CONTROL had been selected to provide its rugged data acquisition system to monitor the test system during the parachute tests for the Ares 1 vehicle.

Interior View of ESA COLUMBUS Module for ISS (Image: ESA)

ACRA CONTROL were selected by the European Space Agency to provide the data acquisition equipment & support to the "COLUMBUS Health Monitoring and Environment Characterization System"

On 3rd October 2007 ACRA CONTROL were selected by the European Space Agency to provide the data acquisition equipment & support to the "COLUMBUS Health Monitoring and Environment Characterization System" which will fly as part of the European Draw Rack on the COLUMBUS module attached to the International Space Station. The COLUMBUS module will be launched on 6th December 2007 on flight STS-122 on Space Shuttle Atlantis and the ACRA CONTROL equipment will be flown separately on 14th February 2008 on flight STS-123 on Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Cutaway of ESA Culmbus Module (Image: ESA)

ACRA CONTROL are a member of the Space Industry Skillnet and their Managing Director Fergal Bonner is an active member of the network steering group. Fergal said "Staff from all levels with ACRA CONTROL have benefited from training provided through the Space Industry Skillnet from the Space Quality Assurance course to the practical Space Electronic Assembly courses amongst others. The training has improved our competitiveness in the highly specialised space industry and we are now winning prestigious business in the world space market such as the Delta II, Ares 1 and Space Station projects."

Danny Gleeson, Promoter of Space Industry Skillnet said "ACRA CONTROL are an ideal example of how companies can enhance their capabilities in the space industry through high end skills development and succeed in the very tough commercial environment of the international space marketplace. We are very proud to have them as members of the Space Industry Skillnet."

Links:

ACRA CONTROL LTD

COLUMBUS Module Update

International Space Station Update