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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS2023

Using Mylar-Insulated Cryopumping Panels to Improve Vacuum Level During Warm Temperature Testing at JSC's Large Thermal Vacuum Facilities

Johnson Space Center’s Space Environment Simulation Lab (SESL) has both Chamber A, the world’s largest purpose-built thermal vacuum chamber capable of creating deep space conditions, and Chamber B, the largest human rated thermal vacuum chamber. A unique design feature of these chambers is the gaseous helium cryopumping panels within the liquid nitrogen shroud. This shroud is used to bring the chamber to cryogenic temperatures while the cryopumping panels trap gasses on its surface area to create a high vacuum environment of 5*10-6 Torr. In preparation for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) flight test, a series of functionals required the chamber to run at higher temperatures, and therefore did not need active cooling from the liquid nitrogen shroud. During testing, cryopumping panels were used to mitigate contamination during this main shroud warm-up. One of the cryopumping panels in Chamber A was covered with several layers of aluminized mylar to thermally protect the zone from the warmed shroud. This strategy was effective and became part of operations during JWST testing. Currently, Chamber B has requests for both commercial and NASA space suit tests at both high and low temperatures to validate thermal models. High temperature tests could benefit from reduced heater demand with an insulated shroud while still sustaining the high vacuum environment provided by the cryopumping panels. This paper will quantitatively define the thermal loads on the panels used in previous Chamber A warm up sequences. Additionally, this report will perform thermal analyses to assess the feasibility of adding layers of aluminized mylar to the cryopumping panels of Chamber B.

Cryogenics↗

NASA NTRS2005

Update on Development of 360V, 28kWh Lithium-Ion Battery

Engineering unit submodule batteries (EUSB) the 360V, 28kWh EAPU battery were designed and assembled by COM DEV. These submodules consist of Sony Li-Ion 18650HC cells in a 5P-41S array yielding 180V, 1.4 kWh. Tests of these and of substrings and single cells at COM DEV and at JSC under various performance and abuse conditions demonstrated that performance requirements can be met. The thermal vacuum tests demonstrated that the worst case hot condition is the design driver. Deficiencies in the initial diode protection scheme of the battery were identified as a result of test failures. Potential solutions to the scheme are under development and will be presented.

Davies, Francis↗

NASA NTRS2019

Successful Use of Microporous Polytetrafluoroethylene Flexible Thin Sheets in NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission

Microporous black polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) flexible thin sheets are successfully flown as solar diffusers on NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. They serve as multilayer insulation (MLI) blanket outer covers for the arm of the Touch And Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), the sunshade of the OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS) PolyCam imager, and the motor riser of the OCAMS SamCam imager. Additionally, microporous white PTFE flexible thin sheets are successfully flown as a MLI blanket outer cover with a low ratio of absorptance to emittance for the Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS). For ground testing, microporous black and white PTFE flexible thin sheets were successfully used as optical targets of the Touch And Go Camera System (TAGCAMS) NavCam imagers in the flight system thermal vacuum test.

OSIRIS-REx↗

NASA NTRS1990

An evaluation of two flat-black silicone paints for space application

Tests were conducted on two flat-black silicone paints suggested for space applications to determine their optical, electrical, and mechanical properties. Three different types of substrate materials were chosen for these paint tests; the application of the paints onto the primed substrates was carried out by spray coating. The adhesion properties were verified by thermal shock and sudden immersion into liquid nitrogen. A controlled thermal vacuum tests was also carried out by varying the temperature of the paint from -100 to 225 C. The measured optical properties included normal and hemispherical emittance, and solar absorption/reflectance. A simultaneous exposure to low-energy proton/UV irradiation in vacuum, and high-energy proton/electron irradiation was carried out. Additional tests of the paints are described.

Clatterbuck, Carroll H.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Roman-WFI: characterization of widefield chromatic response

Characterization of filter transmission is essential to control systematic chromatic errors in photometric surveys. Widefield surveys employ large filter optics viewed from high angles of incidence. Large optics may have variations in edge wavelength definition across their surface, and their spectral response shifts at high incidence angles. I will describe the characterization of the band definitions for the Wide Field Instrument of the Roman Space Telescope as part of its thermal vacuum test campaigns and through preparatory work. The measurement approach and analysis enable joint retrieval of chromatic response variations across the filter and focal plane. Additional tests probe out-of-band response and thermal straylight paths.

Eric Switzer↗

NASA NTRS1972

Heat pipe investigations

The OAO-C spacecraft has three circular heat pipes, each of a different internal design, located in the space between the spacecraft structural tube and the experiment tube, which are designed to isothermalize the structure. Two of the pipes are used to transport high heat loads, and the third is for low heat loads. The test problems deal with the charging of the pipes, modifications, the mobile tilt table, the position indicator, and the heat input mechanisms. The final results showed that the techniques used were adequate for thermal-vacuum testing of heat pipes.

Marshburn, J. P.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Preparation of a Frozen Regolith Simulant Bed for ISRU Component Testing in a Vacuum Chamber

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) systems and components have undergone extensive laboratory and field tests to expose hardware to relevant soil environments. The next step is to combine these soil environments with relevant pressure and temperature conditions. Previous testing has demonstrated how to incorporate large bins of unconsolidated lunar regolith into sufficiently sized vacuum chambers. In order to create appropriate depth dependent soil characteristics that are needed to test drilling operations for the lunar surface, the regolith simulant bed must by properly compacted and frozen. While small cryogenic simulant beds have been created for laboratory tests, this scale effort will allow testing of a full 1m drill which has been developed for a potential lunar prospector mission. Compacted bulk densities were measured at various moisture contents for GRC-3 and Chenobi regolith simulants. Vibrational compaction methods were compared with the previously used hammer compaction, or "Proctor", method. All testing was done per ASTM standard methods. A full 6.13 m3 simulant bed with 6 percent moisture by weight was prepared, compacted in layers, and frozen in a commercial freezer. Temperature and desiccation data was collected to determine logistics for preparation and transport of the simulant bed for thermal vacuum testing. Once in the vacuum facility, the simulant bed will be cryogenically frozen with liquid nitrogen. These cryogenic vacuum tests are underway, but results will not be included in this manuscript.

Klenhenz, Julie↗

NASA NTRS2013

Development and Testing of a Variable Conductance Thermal Acquisition, Transport, and Switching System

This paper describes the development and testing of a scalable thermal control architecture for instruments, subsystems, or systems that must operate in severe space environments with wide variations in sink temperature. The architecture is comprised by linking one or more hot-side variable conductance heat pipes (VCHPs) in series with one or more cold-side loop heat pipes (LHPs). The VCHPs provide wide area heat acquisition, limited distance thermal transport, modest against gravity pumping, concentrated LHP startup heating, and high switching ratio variable conductance operation. The LHPs provide localized heat acquisition, long distance thermal transport, significant against gravity pumping, and high switching ratio variable conductance operation. Combining two variable conductance devices in series ensures very high switching ratio isolation from severe environments like the Earth's moon, where each lunar day spans 15 Earth days (270 K sink, with a surface-shielded/space viewing radiator) and each lunar night spans 15 Earth days (80-100 K radiative sink, depending on location). The single VCHP-single LHP system described herein was developed to maintain thermal control of International Lunar Network (ILN) anchor node lander electronics, but it is also applicable to other variable heat rejection space missions in severe environments. The LHPVCHP system utilizes a stainless steel wire mesh wick ammonia VCHP, a Teflon wick propylene LHP, a pair of one-third square meter high  radiators (one capillary-pumped horizontal radiator and a second gravity-fed vertical radiator), a half-meter of transport distance, and a wick-bearing co-located flow regulator (CLFR) to allow operation with a hot (deactivated) radiator. The VCHP was designed with a small reservoir formed by extending the length of its stainless steel heat pipe tubing. The system was able to provide end-to-end switching ratios of 300-500 during thermal vacuum testing at ATK, including 3-5 W/K ON conductance and 0.01 W/K OFF conductance. The test results described herein also include an in-depth analysis of VCHP condenser performance to explain VCHP switching operation in detail. Future multi-VCHP/multi-LHP thermal management system concepts that provide scalability to higher powers/longer transport lengths are also discussed in the paper.

Bugby, D. C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Thermal test results of the two-phase thermal bus technology demonstration loop

A two-phase heat transport system, the Thermal Bus Technology Demonstrator, has been built and tested for NASA Johnson Space Center for application on Space Station. The loop is a separated two-phase system that uses evaporator flow control valves and liquid condenser flooding to achieve temperature control. Both ambient and thermal vacuum tests have been completed in NASA's Chamber A, initially using Freon-11 and then ammonia as the working fluid. Overall, the tests were quite successful, with the bus achieving all major test objectives, including operation at 19.5 kW and set points at 35 F (1.7 C), 70 F (21.1 C) and 104 F (40.0 C), load sharing, asymmetrical heating and isothermality around the loop. Low plate to vapor temperature drops were obtained for the monogroove cold plate using ammonia and are indicative of the high evaporative film coefficients obtainable with this design.

Edelstein, Fred↗

NASA NTRS1982

Thematic mapper flight model preshipment review data package. Volume 3, part B: System data

Procedures and results are presented for performance and systems integration tests of flight model-1 thematic mapper. Aspects considered cover electronic module integration, radiometric calibration, spectral matching, spatial coverage, radiometric calibration of the calibrator, coherent noise, dynamic square wave response, band to band registration, geometric accuracy, and self induced vibration. Thermal vacuum tests, EMI/EMS, and mass properties are included. Liens are summarized.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1972

Apollo experience report: Thermal design of Apollo lunar surface experiments package

The evolution of the thermal design of the Apollo lunar surface experiments package central station from the basic concept to the final flight hardware is discussed, including results of development, prototype, and qualification tests that were used to verify that the flight hardware would operate adequately on the lunar surface. In addition, brief discussions of the thermal design of experiments included in the experiments package are presented. The flight thermal performance is compared with analytical results and thermal-vacuum test results, and design modifications for future lunar surface experiment packages are presented.

Harris, R. S., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Infrared radiometric technique for rapid quantitative evaluation of heat flux distribution over large areas

This paper describes a novel approach for rapid, quantitative measurement of spatially distributed heat flux incident on a plane. The technique utilizes the spatial temperature distribution on an opaque thin film at the location of interest, as measured by an imaging infrared radiometer. Knowledge of film radiative properties, plus quantitative estimates of convection cooling permit the steady state energy balance at any location on the film sheet to be solved for the incident heat flux. Absolute accuracies on the order of 10-15 percent have been obtained in tests performed in air. The method is particularly useful for evaluation of spatial heat flux uniformity from distributed heat sources over large areas. It has recently been used in several applications at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, including flux uniformity measurements from large distributed quartz lamp arrays used during thermal vacuum testing of several spacecraft components, and flux mapping of a low power NdYg laser beam.

Glazer, Stuart↗

NASA NTRS2010

Electrochromic Radiator Coupon Level Testing and Full Scale Thermal Math Modeling for Use on Altair Lunar Lander

In order to control system and component temperatures, many spacecraft thermal control systems use a radiator coupled with a pumped fluid loop to reject waste heat from the vehicle. Since heat loads and radiation environments can vary considerably according to mission phase, the thermal control system must be able to vary the heat rejection. The ability to "turn down" the heat rejected from the thermal control system is critically important when designing the system. Electrochromic technology as a radiator coating is being investigated to vary the amount of heat rejected by a radiator. Coupon level tests were performed to test the feasibility of this technology. Furthermore, thermal math models were developed to better understand the turndown ratios required by full scale radiator architectures to handle the various operation scenarios encountered during a mission profile for the Altair Lunar Lander. This paper summarizes results from coupon level tests as well as the thermal math models developed to investigate how electrochromics can be used to increase turn down ratios for a radiator. Data from the various design concepts of radiators and their architectures are outlined. Recommendations are made on which electrochromic radiator concept should be carried further for future thermal vacuum testing.

Bannon, Erika T.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Obtaining cryogenic molecular transport data for analysis

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has a primary mirror, made of 18 segments, and a secondary mirror (SM) that are used to direct the light of desired targets. While on orbit, the secondary mirror assembly (SMA) was stowed for approximately 10 days and was subject to molecular contamination outgassing from the cavity of the secondary mirror support structure (SMSS) in-board hinge (IBH) which contains cables, motors, resolvers, and coatings. The main concern during this period before SMA deployment is the accumulation of ice due to the lack of a heater on the SMA. The temperature differentials between the IBH surfaces and SMA could cause redistribution of contaminants. To address this concern, single layer insulation (SLI) was used to create adequate venting and path redirection of outgassing from the IBH. Two separate thermal vacuum tests were performed to quantify this contamination: one Z307 ASTM E 1559 materials test of the radiator paint used on the motor of the IBH and a separate test on a primary mirror backplane assembly (PMBA) qualification engineering test unit (ETU) of the IBH. These tests approximately followed the predicted SMA pre-deployment thermal environment. To quantify source rates in case of a leak, the motor and resolver sides were separated and quartz crystal microbalances (QCM) were used to measure the deposition of water. The SLI redesign and implementation and outgassing measurements to understand leak effects from the IBH were essential to mitigate the deposition of contamination on the SMA.

James Webb Space Telescope, contamination, cleanro↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Obtaining Cryogenic Molecular Transport Data for Analysis

James Webb Space Telescope↗

NASA NTRS2009

Electrochromic Radiator Coupon Level Testing and Full Scale Thermal Math Modeling for Use on Altair Lunar Lander

In order to control system and component temperatures, many spacecraft thermal control systems use a radiator coupled with a pumped fluid loop to reject waste heat from the vehicle. Since heat loads and radiation environments can vary considerably according to mission phase, the thermal control system must be able to vary the heat rejection. The ability to "turn down" the heat rejected from the thermal control system is critically important when designing the system.. Electrochromic technology as a radiator coating is being investigated to vary the amount of heat being rejected by a radiator. Coupon level tests were performed to test the feasibility of the technology. Furthermore, thermal math models were developed to better understand the turndown ratios required by full scale radiator architectures to handle the various operation scenarios during a mission profile for Altair Lunar Lander. This paper summarizes results from coupon level tests as well as thermal math models developed to investigate how electrochromics can be used to provide the largest turn down ratio for a radiator. Data from the various design concepts of radiators and their architectures are outlined. Recommendations are made on which electrochromic radiator concept should be carried further for future thermal vacuum testing.

Sheth, Rubik↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TARDIS: Acelerating TVAC Transitions

"Large spacecraft components, including instruments, require long durations to transition between temperature plateaus during TVAC (Thermal Vacuum) testing. This is especially true for cryogenic instruments whose operating temperatures are extremely low. Due to the T4 relation, using radiative heat transfer alone for temperature transitions to cryogenic temperatures is extremely time consuming. The Wide Field Instrument (WFI) on the upcoming Roman Space Telescope (RST) is one such cryogenic instrument. The TARDIS (Thermal Acceleration Rate Device for Integrated Systems) is a heat switch device which will be used during the WFI TVAC test campaign in order to decrease WFI transition times. Over the course of the planned ___ week WFI instrument-level TVAC testing, TARDIS is being estimated to save ___ days of test time. By reducing the total TVAC duration, TARDIS is providing significant cost and schedule savings to the RST WFI project. Based on the successful design of the LUCY L’Ralph AZQ Heat Switch, TARDIS can provide both high conductivity for temperature transitions and low conductivity Zero-Q for thermal balances. This is achieved by use of a mechanical clamp heat switch and actively controlled cold plate. Using this method, TARDIS is estimated to be able to change its conductance from approximately 0.20 W/K to ¬¬0.002 W/K, for a turndown ratio of 100. This paper details the design, analysis, and testing of TARDIS. It also previews the operation of TARDIS in the upcoming WFI TVAC test campaign. "

TVAC, Heat Switch↗

NASA NTRS1978

Performance of preproduction model cesium beam frequency standards for spacecraft applications

A cesium beam frequency standards for spaceflight application on Navigation Development Satellites was designed and fabricated and preliminary testing was completed. The cesium standard evolved from an earlier prototype model launched aboard NTS-2 and the engineering development model to be launched aboard NTS satellites during 1979. A number of design innovations, including a hybrid analog/digital integrator and the replacement of analog filters and phase detectors by clocked digital sampling techniques are discussed. Thermal and thermal-vacuum testing was concluded and test data are presented. Stability data for 10 to 10,000 seconds averaging interval, measured under laboratory conditions, are shown.

Levine, M. W.↗