The Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE): using space for technology research and development

Abstract

The Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) is a United States Space Shuttle flight experiment which flew on STS-67 in March of 1995. MACE was designed by the Space Engineering Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in collaboration with Payload Systems Incorporated, the NASA Langley Research Center, and Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. The goal is to explore approaches to achieving high precision pointing and vibration control of future spacecraft and satellites. In particular, MACE extends the bandwidth of conventional rigid body instrument pointing and attitude controllers to include the flexible modes of the satellite. Since the success of such control is intimately dependent upon the accuracy of the spacecraft model used for control design, MACE is essentially a spacecraft modeling validation effort where success is determined by the control performance and predictability that is achieved in Earth orbit. MACE builds upon the concept of the Middeck O-Gravity Dynamics Experiments (MODE), which flew on STS-40, STS-48 and STS-62 as a dynamics test facility to characterize fluid, Space Station structure, and crew motion dynamics in zero-gravity. MACE augments the MODE facility with real-time digital control capabilities.