Engineering topics

Leneman, David

Publications and source records attributed to Leneman, David.

3 records

NASA NTRS2021

Europa Clipper Magnetometer Thermal Design Evolution, Validation, and Verification

Europa Clipper Spacecraft is exposed to a high radiation environment and is limited with power. This makes the thermal design of Europa Clipper magnetometer more challenging. The design is required to be highly insulated and at the same time magnetically clean. This paper describes the thermal design evolution of Europa Clipper Magnetometer. A thermal vacuum test is conducted in Europa Clipper orbit’s relevant environment to characterize the requirements and estimate the power consumption. A flight-like engineering model magnetometer from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is used for this test. Magnetically clean Cernox temperature measurement sensors with the accuracy of ±0.1ºC are used to measure the temperature value inside the sensor head and across the main frame interfaces. This level of accuracy in temperature measurement is required to capture the temperature gradient across the sensor head in a relevant environment which impacts the magnetometer measurement accuracy. Test data is used to correlate the thermal model and characterize the heat leak across the interfaces. Validated thermal model is used as a verification tool for power consumption and thermal requirements.

Caron, Ryan↗

NASA NTRS2020

Psyche Magnetometer Engineering Model Test and Thermal Model Correlation to Validate Operational Thermal Requirement

Psyche Fluxgate Magnetometer candidate fabricated by UCLA has a critical temperature gradient requirement inside the magnetometer sensor head. Since the temperature gradient requirement is a driving factor for the magnetometer operation and science data collection at 16 Psyche, it is critical to validate and verify this requirement via modeling and test. In this work, a thermal vacuum test was completed for Psyche flight-like magnetometer engineering model. Flight-like environments were simulated for a hot operational case (after launch), a cold survival case (cruise), and two cold operational cases to characterize thermal performance of the instrument. An additional, non-flight, steady-state test case was completed to better correlate the magnetometer thermal model. During the test, sensitive Cernox temperature sensors with accuracy of ±0.1°C were used to precisely characterize the temperature gradient and correlate the model to the best accuracy. Collected test data indicated power consumption of 28% lower than predicted. The temperature gradient measured met the expected value and the requirement. Test data indicated the magnetometer also met the AFTs in relevant hot and cold environments. Test Results were used to correlate the thermal model. The correlated thermal model will be integrated to the spacecraft thermal model to predict magnetometer thermal performance while collecting science data in Psyche orbits.

Caron, Ryan↗

NASA NTRS1995

Making sense from space-time data in laboratory experiments on space plasma processes

A number of visualization techniques are discussed in a laboratory experiment designed to study phenomena that occur in space. Visualization tools are used to design the apparatus, collect data, and make one-, two-, and three-dimensional plots of the results. These tools are an indispensable part of the experiment because the data sets are hundreds of megabytes in size and rapid turnaround is required.

Gekelman, Walter↗