Hold Down Release Mechanism - The nuts & bolts that unfold a spacecraft.

When a spacecraft is too big to fit inside a rocket fairing we fold it. Unfolding a spacecraft in space is a tricky process that has to be done in a particular order and often within a certain time frame after launch. That’s because in the folded state a spacecraft is unable to generate power unless it’s nuclear powered. It’s also unable to communicate with earth efficiently if at all in the folded state. The fact that without power and communication a spacecraft is totally useless makes the unfolding process that much more critical.
But unfolding it it is not guaranteed if it its not done in the correct way.
In this video we talk about Hold Down Release Mechanism (HDRM) and how they are strong enough to secure a spacecraft during launch but are able to release it on demand later in space.

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MUSIC CREDIT:
Snowflake - Longing (Base Mode pres. Lunar Chillout Mix) by Lunar (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/lunarmu...


SOURCES
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
http://esmats.eu/esmatspapers/pastpap...
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...