Lp-pwi deploayble boom for juice mission – innovative features and breadboard model development

The article presents the design of the Langmuir Probe – Plasma Wave Instrument (LP-PWI) – a 3-meter-long deployable boom for ESA’s JUICE mission – and discusses the challenges encountered during the test campaign of its breadboard model. The following sections focus on the design of the instrument’s key subsystems: the Langmuir Probe, the Hold Down and Release Mechanism (HDRM), the CFRP tubes, and the boom’s hinges. The document also presents the design evolution of the subsystems resulting from the breadboard’s test campaign. The LP-PWI model passed the vibration, functional, and thermal-vacuum tests in phase B2. Lessons learnt were collected and used to indicate the directions of design improvements. The improvements presented herein are intended to be introduced to the qualification model in phase C.