ARCHIMEDES Scientific Baseline

The ARCHIMEDES project was subject of a doctorate thesis established at the University of the Armed Forces in Neubiberg near Munich by Dr. Hannes Griebel. The thesis describes the scientific research leading to the ARCHIMEDES concept as well as the design solutions selected to make the ARCHIMEDES project real. The selected design solutions have been verified, accompanying the doctorate thesis, by technology programs and extensive tests on the ground and in flight under zero gravity and on top of sounding rockets. Thereby the emphasis was on the most critical design areas: balloon material selection, balloon construction, balloon storage, deployment and inflation systems. This work was supported by institutions such as the IABG for integration and test activities, the DLR-MoRaBa for sounding rocket campaigns, and by a variety of specialized companies, which are listed lateron.