Year: 2003
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: An advanced thermal control system for the Burst Alert Telescope on the Swift satellite has been designed and an engineering test unit (ETU) has been built and tested in a thermal vacuum chamber. The ETU assembly consists of a propylene loop heat pipe, two constant conductance heat pipes, a variable conductance heat pipe (VCHP), which is used for rough temperature control of the system, and a radiator. The entire assembly was tested in a thermal vacuum chamber at NASA/GSFC in early 2002. Tests were performed with thermal mass to represent the instrument and with electrical resistance heaters providing the heat to be transferred. Start‐up and heat transfer of over 300 W was demonstrated with both steady and variable condenser sink temperatures. Radiator sink temperatures ranged from a high of approximately 273 K, to a low of approximately 83 K, and the system was held at a constant operating temperature of 278 K throughout most of the testing. A novel LHP temperature control methodology using both temperature‐controlled electrical resistance heaters and a small VCHP was demonstrated. This paper describes the system and the tests performed and includes a discussion of the test results.
Source: AIP conference proceedings
DOI: 10.1063/1.1541274
Author: Laura Ottenstein
Institution: Goddard Space Flight Center
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1494038020