CSA conceived, designed, built, tested, and delivered a passive vibration isolation system to isolate a sensitive payload during launch aboard the Space Shuttle. The payload, called the Near-Infrared Camera/Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), flew on the February 1997 launch as part of the second servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The figure below shows the payload in its protective enclosure (called the ASIPE), supported by CSA's struts during testing at NASA Goddard. The primary requirements on the isolation system are very long stroke (10.0 inches) and an integral damping mechanism that is highly reliable, qualified for space flight, and relatively insensitive to temperature over a range of -40 to +65°C. Of particular concern was the requirement that the damped isolation struts be absolutely free from any fluid leakage. In response to these requirements, CSA developed a fluid-free isolation strut using magnetic eddy current dampers. It is designed to meet not only the basic functional requirements of stroke, compliance, and damping, but the usual long list of reliability, space-compatibility, and quality assurance requirements expected of any critical flight hardware.