Mechanical Ground Support Equipment (MGSE) in Support of the European Space Agency's (ESAs) Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA) Observatory

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has a requirement for the engineering, procurement, fabrication and testing of mechanical ground support equipment (MGSE) to support the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA) mirror. NASA/MSFC intends to issue a sole source contract to Moog CSA Engineering. Moog will provide an integrated 6- degrees of freedom (DOF) hexapod and 3-DOF translation positioning system for the CCD camera and an integrated user interface for both the mirror and camera systems. The place of performance is anticipated to be Golden, Colorado; Huntsville, Alabama; and other locations as determined by the Government. This effort includes the design, fabrication, shipment, installation and verification of specialized MGSE to support the ATHENA mirror testing in the XRCF. Specifically, it includes: “Re-Purposing” the previously supplied Center-of Curvature Optical Bench (CoCOB) Hexapod used as part of the James Webb Space Telescope optical metrology system to provide high precision positioning control in 6-DOF meeting the testing, functional and interface requirements for the ATHENA mirror assemblies Design, fabrication, and integration of a new vacuum-compatible 2-DOF translation stage/transporter below the CoCOB Hexapod for course alignment / positioning Re-purposing the current CoCOB Hexapod, drive electronics, and control software to provide fine alignment / positioning, which includes replacement of the upper deck, removing the lower deck, and directly attaching the new 2-DOF translation stage / transporter to the hexapod Design and fabrication of the support structure which integrates the ATHENA Mirror Assembly Common Support Ring structure (provided by ESA) with the modified CoCOB Hexapod upper deck Fabrication, testing, and commissioning of an integrated vacuum-compatible 6-DOF hexapod and 3-DOF translation / manipulator stage for the CCD Camera Manipulator system used as part of the XRCF optical metrology system Maintaining the CoCOB Hexapod’s traceable positioning accuracy / resolution performance by ensuring the CoCOB Hexapod will be positioned geometrically centered under the ATHENA Mirror Support Ring Providing system integration support and commissioning of these positioning systems within the XRCF environmental chamber to support X-ray optical testing of the ATHENA Mirror Assembly test articles. Providing a common user interface for the Mirror and CCD Camera Manipulator MGSE to support integrated control of the two MGSE systems