Space Grains

 The development status of the instrument is in phase B (preliminary design phase) which started in june 2010. This phase is mainly focusing on the development of  motors and the characterization of their performances. Phase B includes also testing at the breadboard level.

The next milestones are:

• June 2012 : Mid Term Review about the design and performances
• Sept. 2012 : Simplified tests on the mechanical parts + optics
• Dec. 2012 : Preliminary Design Review: formal review of the project, including safety and operation on the ISS
• Beginning 2013 : Scientific tests about the benchmark tests defined by the Science team

The “Dust and Grains in Low Gravity and Space Environment” workshop will be held in ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk 2-4 April 2012. Many TT members will participate to this event.

The Topical Team meeting has been held in Paris, ESA Headquarters on September 21, 2011. During the meeting, the status of the project, the status of the breadboard tests have been discussed. The Working Packages are defined for selecting scientific objectives.

Participants are E. Falcon(Univ. Paris 7), N. Vandewalle(Univ. Liege), S. Aumaître (CEA-Saclay), R. Behringer (Duke University), P. Behrmann (ESA), M. Berhanu (CNRS & Univ. Paris Diderot), E. Clément (ESPCI & Univ. P. M. Curie), P. Evesque (Ecole Centrale Paris), S. Fauve (Ecoole Normale Superieur) A. Garcimartín (Univ. de Narvarra), Y. Garrabos (ICMCB-CNRS, Bordeaux), M. Hou (Chineese Ac. of Sciences), C. Lecoutre (ICMCB-CNRS, Bordeaux), F. Ludewig (Univ. Liège), E. Opsomer (Univ. Liège), T. Peignier (ESA), E. Rodriguez (COMAT), M. Sperl (DRL), S. Vincent-Bonnieu (ESA), P. Yu (DLR), B. Zappoli (CNES)