ESA Science & Technology - Simulation of spacecraft/launcher separation shock

To simulate the mechanical shock generated by the pyrotechnic initiation of the separation of the spacecraft stack from the launcher upper stage, the Mercury Composite Spacecraft (MCS) with the Launch Vehicle Adapter (LVA) attached are suspended from an overhead crane in the Test Centre at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Compressed gas is used to open the clamp band attaching the MCS to the LVA and the LVA drops onto blocks of foam rubber. Accelerometers mounted at strategic locations on the spacecraft stack measure the effect of the shock.