IADS Doors Opened
A picture from the wide-angle metrology camera on CatSat. The image was taken pointing into space away from the Earth. The Sun is just out of frame at the top of the image. On the right side of the image, the edge of one of the doors of the IADS system is seen. The door is made of Aluminum covered in Kapton tape, giving it a golden color, and appears curved due to the distortion in the lens.
Following a series of inconclusive deployment attempts, the CatSat team has now been able to confirm the deployment of the IADS doors! This development now means that the membrane is exposed to the vacuum of space. Although the uninflated membrane cannot be seen by the cameras, the edge of one of the doors can be seen in the featured image. This marks the successful end of the two high risk phases of the IADS deployment. The only remaining deployment step is the inflation of the membrane, which the team hopes to accomplish slowly over the coming weeks.
For more information on IADS and the inflatable antenna, click here.