Black Magic begins to take shape
The Astrobotic spacecraft/lander requires an attitude control system (ACS) to keep itself oriented correctly on the flight to the Moon and during the nerve-wracking descent to the surface. "Black Magic" is the development system to lest the ACS' sensors and algorithms with cold gas thrusters in place of the hot gas thrusters that will be used in the actual lander.
Black Magic has 12 cold gas thrusters to achieve three degrees of rotational freedom. It operates from a shop air system supplying a measure 30 cubic feet per minute at 110 psi pressure. The thrusters are each controlled by a solenoid valve. The system is split into two clusters of four valves, and two clusters of two valves. The image below shows the general layout; the valve clusters will be mounted on at the four corners.
The photo below shows one of the four-solenoid valve clusters.
The photo below shows one of the four-solenoid valve clusters.
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