Shuttle Orbiter Active Thermal Control Subsystem design and flight experience

Abstract

The paper examines the design of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Active Thermal Control Subsystem (ATCS) constructed for providing the vehicle and payload cooling during all phases of a mission and during ground turnaround operations. The operation of the Shuttle ATCS and some of the problems encountered during the first 39 flights of the Shuttle program are described, with special attention given to the major problems encountered with the degradation of the Freon flow rate on the Orbiter Columbia, the Flash Evaporator Subsystem mission anomalies which occurred on STS-26 and STS-34, and problems encountered with the Ammonia Boiler Subsystem. The causes and the resolutions of these problems are discussed.