Detailed Design of the Rigidizable Inflatable Get-Away-Special Experiment

This research effort builds upon the previous design of the Rigidizable Inflatable Get-Away-Special Experiment (RIGEX). RIGEX is a Space Shuttle experiment that will study the effects of the zero-gravity space environment on the deployment and modal analysis of three in-atable and rigidizable tubes using a sub-Tg rigidizationtechnique. By comparing space-based modal testing with similar ground-based tests,the experiment intends to verify and validate ground-testing techniques as a viablesubstitute for zero-gravity tests, thus minimizing cost and complexity for future AirForce and commercial spacecraft rigidization implementations.With the transition from the Space Shuttle's Get-Away-Special (GAS) canisterto its Canister for All Payload Ejections (CAPE) in 2004, there have been severalrequirements and associated modi cations a ecting the design.