Even the minutest piece of contamination ignored in the manufacture of payloads destined for space can result in eventual degradation of performance or even circuit failures and the loss of a mission.

Even the very minutest piece of contamination ignored during the manufacture of payloads destined for space can result in eventual degradation of performance or even circuit failures and the possible loss of a mission. So EADS Astrium, part of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, chose the accurate monitoring and reporting capabilities of the latest handheld Fluke 983 Particle Counter for use in its revamped cleanroom at Portsmouth, where it designs, manufactures, assembles and tests the essential electronic payloads which make up the heart of satellites and space probes. The Fluke 983 stores up to 5000 sampling results, which can be downloaded later to a PC for analysis and reporting.

Chris Jeffery, Process Control Manager at EADS Astrium, explained, 'The size and portability of the Fluke 983 means we can sample air quality at any location, for example, up high near air conditioning vents to check the filtration of the incoming air, at locations hidden behind equipment and benches, and within laminar flow cabinets.

It is intuitive to use: readings are displayed on the LCD screen.

The software provided enables the data to be downloaded to a PC back in my office, so I can easily import it into a spreadsheet for analysis and regular reporting to meet European Space Agency requirements.

And by storing the information on a database, it is easy to interrogate later for purposes of traceability and statistical process control'.

Jonathan Roe, Manufacturing Engineer at EADS Astrium, explained the decision to purchase Fluke 983 Particle Counters for the cleanrooms on the site.

'Originally we used a single trolley-based particle counting system but it had many drawbacks,' he said: 'Its lack of mobility meant it was difficult to monitor exact locations and its output of data was all in printed form.

We had to read the data, then manually enter it into a PC for reporting purposes.

We realised the new handheld Fluke 983 could be the ideal solution.

In trials it proved just that'.

The Fluke 983 stores sampling results, based on time, a set number of counts, or with a programmable delay.

Each time, it records date, time, counts, relative humidity, temperature, sample volumes, any alarm signals, and a location label.

The measurements are classified in particle size distribution steps between 0.3micron and 10.microns in diameter.