MaxQ Technology, LLC has been heavily involved with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to develop a custom thermal solution for NASA’s ECOSTRESS project. The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) measures the temperature of plants and uses that information to better understand how much water plants need and how they respond to stress. After launching on June 28, 2018, JPL confirmed ECOSTRESS was successfully integrated on the ISS. Payload was turned ON and thermal performance of MaxQ Technology HXs was nominal, and has been performing nominally since first Turn ON (early July).
We were recently asked by our partners at JPL to co-author on a NASA paper that will be presented at the CEC / ICMC 2019 Conference (Cryogenic Engineering Conference and International Cryogenic Materials Conference). This paper provides an overview of the thermal control system architecture, key design drivers, thermal design and analysis approach, and on-orbit thermal performance results.
- Thermal Environment and Requirements and ISS
- Thermal architecture
- Heat Rejection System
- Coldplate design
- Thermal Model and Flight Predicts
- TVAC Performance Data
- On-Orbit Data and Performance
Subject: Thermal Design and On-orbit Performance of the ECOSTRESS Instrument
Abstract. The ECOSystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) instrument, launched on June 28, 2018, has completed six months of operation in space. ECOSTRESS is a multispectral thermal infrared imaging spectrometer and its primary mission is to investigate and understand how climate change affects water and carbon usage on Earth. The thermal control subsystem consists of a combination of active and passive components to maintain the instrument components within the allowable flight temperature limits. Its focal plane detector is cooled to 65 K by a pair of mechanical crycooolers and a third mechanical cryocooler cools an intermediate cold shield to 135 K. The waste heat generated by the cryocoolers and electronics, is removed through non-planar cold plates and tube-on plate heat exchanger, which are cooled by a circulating pumped fluid loop inside JAXA’s JEM-EF module. The waste heat collected by the JEM-EF is exchanged with a fluid loop that circulates through radiators located on the exterior of the Space Station.
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