Thermal Modeling for Design Evaluation of Extravehicular Mobility Unit Heat Pipe Thermal Management Unit

This paper describes the thermal modeling phase of a research and development effort to provide a low weight and volume thermal management unit (TMU) for an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). An overview of prior work discusses design and lab testing of two prototype units which combine heat pipes and a wax-filled heat sink to reject heat from the EMU. Modeling objectives, initial results, enhancements, and final results are presented. Results demonstrate how the TMU functions as a regenerative heat sink as it responds to metabolic and environmental thermal loads while providing astronaut thermal comfort.