PRODEX Achievements
PRODEX in 2008
PRODEX support to hardware development
In the course of 2008 the PRODEX Office ran three major hardware development activities:
- The Flight Model programme for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI).
The Irish, Swiss and Danish contributions to this programme were successfully completed by the end of 2008. This consisted of the following Hardware developments:
- Filters (Ireland)
- Struts for the Primary Structure (Denmark)
- Contamination Control Cover (Switzerland)
- Harness (Switzerland)
The Belgian contribution of the Inputs Optics and Calibration Unit (IOC) and the Instrument Control Electronics (ICE) will be finalized in 2009. - The successful Phase B (implementation phase) of the BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA) instrument. BELA is one of the instruments on the European part of the BepiColombo mission, and in volume the largest.
- A substantial activity was the Austrian contribution to NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS). Austria provides two major payload contributions: the Active Spacecraft Potential Control (ASPOC) instrument and the Gun Detector Electronics of the Electron Drift Instrument (EDI).
In addition to these hardware developments, the PRODEX Programme has also substantially contributed to the first phases in the development of life science and material science projects with launch opportunities in the period 2009-2011, as well as to the Phase B developments for several payloads of the ExoMars mission.
PRODEX funded experiments launched in 2008
| Mission | Experiments
(Sub)systems | Proposers/Countries |
| ISS | ANITA | Honne (N) |
| BASE B & C | Cornelis, Leys, Mahillon, Wattiez (B) |
| Solid Particles Mobility | Vedernikov (B) |
| SOLSPEC | Gillotay (B) |
| SOVIM | Dewitte (B), Schmutz (CH) |
| Maser-11 | BIOMICS | Dubois (B) |
| CHIPA | De Wit (B) |
PRODEX funded hardware completed in 2008
| Mission | Instrument/Subsystem | Country | Model |
| Herschel-Planck | Detector and Mechanism Controller for Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) | B | Flight Spare Model |
| JWST | MIRI Contamination Control Cover | CH | Flight Spare Model |
| PICARD (CNES) | SOVAP | B | Flight Model |
| JWST | MIRI Input and Optics Calibration Unit | B | Engineering and Test Model |
 | 
|
| Left: MIRI input and optics calibration unit. Right: (top to bottom)
1. PACS detector and mechanism
controller
2. ANITA flight hardware - multi-
component trace gas monitoring
3. MIRI contamination control
cover
All images: Credit ESA |  |
PRODEX support to scientists and projects in 2008
The number of scientists and projects/topics supported through the PRODEX Programme in 2008 is given in the table below. Out of the total of 128 projects managed through the PRODEX Programme 37 of them included hardware related activities in various stages of development.
| Country | Number of
scientists | Number of
projects/topics |
| Austria | 4 | 3 |
| Belgium | 91 | 74 |
| Denmark | 5 | 5 |
| Ireland | 9 | 9 |
| Norway | 19 | 16 |
| Switzerland | 14 | 21 |
| TOTAL | 142 | 128 |
The information presented here is based on the description of PRODEX activities in the annual Status Report on the Mandatory Scientific Programme to the ESA Council for 2008.
 |
PRODEX in 2009 |
 |
PRODEX in 2005 |
Last Update: 18 Mar 2011
