Europa Clipper Spacecraft In-Flight Structural Flexible Mode Identification Presentation Deck

This paper reports on the in-space flexible mode frequency identification on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft. Identification is needed to uncover possible discrepancies between reality and the finite element models used for attitude control design. Such discrepancies can compromise performance, reduce stability margins, and in the worst case, cause instability in high-performance controllers. The paper will span the complete process including the design of thruster-based excitations to safely excite select flexible modes as identified by high fidelity finite element models, high rate gyroscopic data collection requirements, the offline post-processing, and results comparing measured versus expected modal frequencies and damping.