Research

We are going to have a seminar on 'Systems engineering for the Solar Orbiter mission' on 24^th November 2014, Monday, given by Dr Nicolas Croisard, who is currently a system engineer on the ESA Solar Orbiter mission at Airbus Defence & Space in Stevenage, England.

Abstract and biography are given below.

Date & Time: 1:00-2:00 PM, Monday, 24^th November, 2014
Venue: Room 526 JWS, James Watt Building South

Tea/coffee/biscuits before the start.

 

 

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Abstract

Solar Orbiter is an interdisciplinary mission to the Sun. It consists of a single spacecraft which will orbit the Sun in a moderately elliptical orbit, using a suite of advanced Remote-Sensing and In-Situ instruments to perform a detailed observation of the Sun and surrounding space. The mission will revolutionise our understanding of the various processes and mechanisms which make up the Sun and Heliosphere.

The talk will focus on the role of a system engineer working for the prime contractor of an exploration project. It will be based on my personal experience working at Airbus Defence & Space, and illustrated with hands-on examples coming from Solar Orbiter. In particular, I will discuss what a system engineer does, how the role of a system engineer fits within the project and what skills are required.

Biography

Dr Nicolas Croisard is a system engineer on the ESA Solar Orbiter mission at Airbus Defence & Space in Stevenage, England.
The following is a summary of Nicolas’ main career achievements:

• Aeronautics and Space Engineer, graduated in 2003 from ENSICA, Toulouse, France
• MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering, graduated in 2003 from Cranfield University, UK
• Worked on Ariane 5 at Astrium Space transportation in Les Mureaux, France, from 2004 to 2006. The job was on the mechanical justification of the thrust frame for both the 1st and 2nd stage.
• PhD at Glasgow University from February 2006 to October 2009.
  • The thesis title is Reliable Preliminary Space Mission Design – Optimisation under uncertainties in the frame of Evidence Theory. The work focused on first modelling the performance of different subsystems and then optimisation of the design considering some subsystem parameters as uncertain.
  • In parallel to the PhD, I was involved in ESMO project, for which my role was to interface with the other teams of the project and to manage the mission analysis work done internally at Glasgow university.
• Worked at Airbus Defence & Space (formerly Astrium Ltd) (Stevenage), since 1st November 2009:
  • Until March 2012, worked as mission analyst. Study mission to Jupiter moons (Europa, Ganymede), Mars (sample return and rover), Mercury (BepiColombo) and the Sun (Solar Orbiter)
  • Until March 2012, supported also the AOCS studies for Solar Orbiter (thruster commanding algorithm, implementation of the LEOP auto-sequence, development of a simulator, etc…) and Sentinel 5 Precursor aka S5P (Normal mode tuning)
  • Since April 2012, System engineer on Solar Orbiter. My role involved maintaining system budgets (delta-V, Mass, Pointing, Power, etc…), assessing the spacecraft performances at system level (e.g. data download, science availability), managing design changes on the spacecraft, and interfacing with the customer (ESA).

First published: 24 October 2013