The AMS02 TVTB Test Design and Predictions 2009-01-2428

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a particle physics detector designed to measure charged cosmic rays spectra and high energy photons on board of the International Space Station (ISS). The large acceptance (0.5 m2sr), the long mission duration (3 years) and the state of the art particle identification techniques will allow AMS to provide the most sensitive search up to date for the existence of anti matter nuclei and for the origin of dark matter. AMS02 now is in its final integration phase at CERN. To verify the functional performance of the detectors and of the key subsystems of the Thermal Control System under vacuum condition and to validate the thermal mathematical model of AMS02 a system level thermo-vacuum test will be performed in the Large Space Simulator (LSS) of ESA at ESTEC (the Netherlands). A test sequence has been designed so that the test duration is minimized and all the key operations expected on orbit are tested in similar conditions: charging the magnet, simulating a power outage, booting the experiment from a power outage condition, entering in survival mode with the heaters. Methodology, results of the simulated test phases and the final test set up of AMS02 inside the LSS are presented in this paper with highlights on the design of the IR lamps.