Ixthus distribution partner wins NASA award

The Strainsert sensors were custom designed to collect parachute riser load measurements during engineering development for use on qualification airdrop testing, spaceflight testing and human spaceflights. This was a particularly challenging task for Strainsert's engineering team as riser design changes from steel to a textile material required a complete revision of how the loads on drogue and main parachutes could be measured, and previous tests with COTS systems from other suppliers had yielded unsatisfactory results.

Strainsert has worked with NASA over several decades and has developed patented transducer designs for many other challenging applications on major space programs. Many of these are customised products made possible by an innovative internal strain gauging process where foil strain gauges are actually bonded and sealed inside small bore holes, often as part of complete load bearing components. With all sensor components enclosed inside the transducer's metal housing, highly reliable measurement is achieved - undisturbed by external environmental conditions.

One of its most notable achievements involved the supply of over 40 customised sensors for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission which recently and successfully landed the Mars Rover Curiosity on the Red Planet. Strainsert's standard and customised load cells, load pins and force sensors are used for many other demanding applications in research, testing, weighing and control in the aerospace, military, marine and automotive industries.

Ixthus Instrumentation Limited works closely as a distribution partner with Strainsert and other globally recognised producers and innovators of state-of-the-art sensor technologies for position, displacement, pressure, force, torque, vibration and temperature. For more information please visit www.ixthus.co.uk.