Engineering topics

Richard Ottens

Publications and source records attributed to Richard Ottens.

4 records

NASA NTRS2023

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.

Infrared astronomy↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Study of the Thermal Physical Properties of Insulating Materials in A Titan Environment

Dragonfly is a planned rotorcraft mission that NASA/APL will be sending to Saturn’s moon Titan to study its chemistry. The Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) is a mass spectrometer that is being developed to identify different kinds of organic material that comprises Titan’s surface. The Cryogenic engineering team on DraMS is developing and interface between the room temperature rotorcraft body and the near-cryogenic temperatures of an onboard sample chamber, while minimizing the thermal leak to the Titan environment. As part of design process, the Cryogenic team has built a conductivity test rig for testing the thermophysical properties of candidate insulators, which includes Rohacell 31HF and hollowed 3D printed PEEK structures, at simulated Titan environmental conditions.

Thermal Conductivity↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Development of an Ultra-Low-Temperature 5-Stage Continuous Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator That Provides Cooling at Two Unique Temperatures

The cryogenics group at NASA-Goddard has built several adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators (ADRs) for cooling detectors to sub-Kelvin temperatures in a lab, balloon, or space environment. The effort presented here describes the development of a new 5-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator capable of providing continuous cooling at 35 mK with a cooling power double that previously demonstrated at this temperature. It will also provide a separate continuous temperature platform near 1 K. This system will be qualified using flight-like conditions, culminating in an ADR that is ready for the rigors of spaceflight by the end of the effort.

ADR↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Four-Stage Continuous ADR for Space Missions

The cryogenics group at NASA-Goddard has provided adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators (ADRs) for cooling detectors to sub-Kelvin temperatures in space. These ADRs were single-shot devices that produced cooling at 0.05 K for tens of hours before needing to be recycled. Our group also developed a four-stage laboratory ADR system which holds one stage continuously at 0.05K, or colder, while using the other stages to pump heat from the continuous stage up to a heat sink near 4K. This continuous ADR (CADR) provides a useful cooling power that is more than 10 times greater at 0.050 K than what was required by the single-shot space systems. Over the past several years, this system was updated so that it can withstand the rigors of a launch into space. We describe this development process and report its final results.

Continuous ADR↗