Perseverance collects the first Martian sounds: explications by Dr. Naomi Murdoch & Dr. Dr Alexander Stott

With the emergence of the “New Space”, more and more CubeSats are being launched. On these small platforms (CubeSats are made up of one or more standard cubes of 10 cm edge length), several subsystems have to coexist. If electric propulsion solutions help in saving space and weight to be carried on board, their electromagnetic compatibility with onboard communication systems is still questioned.
The ISAE-SUPAERO in collaboration with the CNES and the LAPLACE are currently developing simulation tools and characterization methods to provide engineers with CubeSats sizing tools and efficient testing facilities to address this issue. This experimental bench developed at ISAE-SUPAERO allows the characterization of a plasma discharge representative of an electric thruster, as well as the measurement of its interactions with microwave signals generated by nearby communication antennas. The experimental data obtained will finally allow the calibration of the numerical analysis tools currently being developed by our teams.

Since 2017, the ISAE-SUPAERO Aerodynamic and Propulsion Department (DAEP) is equipped with an anechoic chamber, an acoustic experimental room where all the walls are treated to study the noise generated by equipements without acoustic waves reflexions.
The DAEP uses this test mean to study the aerodynamic noise generated for instance by drone rotors, to be able to propose and test noise reduction strategies.
Experiments perfomed in this facility also allow the development of new experimental methodologies and to validate the numerical simulation codes developed at the department.

The DART mission reached its target on September 27 at 1 h 14 am on the asteroid Dimorphos! ISAE-SUPAERO researchers participate in this first planetary defense mission.
Dr. Naomi Murdoch - researcher at ISAE-SUPAERO and scientific member of the DART and HERA missions - comments on the objectives of DART & those of the European HERA mission which will arrive in 2026 to characterize the crater left by DART and to study the internal structure of the Dimorphos asteroid!