Technologies and Concepts of the UHV System for the MAIUS-2/3 Sounding Rocket Missions

Abstract

During the two sounding rocket missions MAIUS-2 and MAIUS-3, it is planned to perform sequential and simultaneous dualspecies atom interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates of Potassium-41 and Rubidium-87. The scientific payload of the MAIUS missions will be launched on-board a VSB-30 sounding rocket launched from Esrange in Sweden. The flights of these rockets allows for approximately 360 s of microgravity conditions. The microgravity environment offers experiments on timescales that are not possible on ground based experiments. To perform long lifetimes of the BEC, a pressure <= 5·10^(-10) mbar needs to be reached and maintained in the vacuum chamber. During ascent of the rocket, vibrational loads of 1.8 g RMS in the frequency range of 20-2000 Hz and accelerations of up to 13 g are applied to the vacuum system and the payload. During re-entry and landing static loads can reach a level of up to 50 g. The ultra-high vacuum system presented in this talk is designed to withstand these loads while maintaining the vacuum quality. Therefore, the sealing technologies and pumping concepts which are used under this challenging requirements, needed to be tested and qualified. This talk presents the ultra-high vacuum system of the MAIUS-2/3 payload in detail, as well as its vibration and qualification tests at the shaker test facility at the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) in Bremen.