Getting Vega’s launch tower moving

Once its mobile launch gantry is moved away, then Europe’s Vega launcher is primed for lift-off – except for the time the stuck gantry refused to move. Solving the problem and getting the gantry mobile again was one of the more unusual tasks of ESA’s Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory. Team members explain in their own words how the movement of the gantry’s wheels and performance of its bearings were analysed with the Lab’s Aramis  3D camera system. Without touching the test subject, Aramis measure the 3D surface deformation of items subjected to various kinds of loads, from mechanical loads to themal stress. Aramis can identify the slightest submillimetre deformation of materials and structures put to the test.