Improved Cryostat for Cooling a Wide Panel

An improved cryostat has been developed for cooling a wide panel evenly over its surface to a temperature of -423 °F (≈-253 °C) by use of liquid helium. Originally, the cryostat was to be used in measuring apparent strains in wide aluminum/ lithium panels as functions of temperature in order to develop data for temperature compensation of the readings of strain gauges on a tank containing liquid hydrogen. Relative to the cryostat used previously for this purpose, the improved cryostat can be prepared for a test in less time, and it loses less helium during each test.