Mechanical Pumped Cooling Loop for Spacecraft Thermal Control
961488
07/01/1996
- Event
- Content
- The Mars Pathfinder (MPF) Spacecraft, scheduled for a December 1996 launch to Mars, uses a mechanically pumped loop to transfer dissipated heat from the insulated lander electronics to an external radiator. This paper discusses the tradeoffs performed before choosing a mechanical pumped loop as the thermal control system for MPF. It describes the analysis, tradeoffs, design, and predicted performance of this system. The various development tests performed are discussed, along with the current status of this cooling system. Finally, some thoughts on the development of mechanically pumped loops for future spacecraft are presented.
- Pages
- 10
- Citation
- Bhandari, P., Birur, G., and Gram, M., "Mechanical Pumped Cooling Loop for Spacecraft Thermal Control," SAE Technical Paper 961488, 1996, https://doi.org/10.4271/961488.