MODE — Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment

Still the most useful public dataset on how a real jointed deployable truss behaves in zero gravity, and the basis of PSE-TM-01 and PSE-TM-03 here. Its value is that it holds ground and orbital modal parameters on the same hardware against varied joint preload.

Its limits are that the measurements are amplitude-dependent while every analysis of record is linear, and that the 1 g reference is not documented well enough to isolate the gravity effect — hanger placement and suspension choice leave roughly a 0.7σ uncertainty floor. It is a scaled polycarbonate laboratory truss, not flight hardware.

Treat it as a validation case for method, not as a source of numbers that transfer.

PSE-TM-01 · Rev A — 2026-10-15Verification by analysis of a flown deployable truss: what the MODE ground-to-orbit frequency shift is not

PSE-TM-03 · Rev A — 2026-10-15Tolerance and geometry control of a deployable/erectable space truss