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The aim of this paper is to present the Hermes Thermal Control Concept which constitutes the reference baseline for the phase 2 of the Hermes program. The technical solutions based on active and passive means, are dictated by a variety of requirements including temperature and heat flux limits, mass & power minimization, availability of space for accommodation of TCS devices. Furthermore thecomplex mission profile (including atmospheric flight and several modes of operation o002d;orbit) and the configuration of the space-vehicle, require the adoption of a particularly flexible thermal control. The ATCS (Active Thermal Control Section) is based on a dual loop concept, using both water and Freon R114 cooling loops for heat collection from the various sources, heat transportation and heat rejection through dedicated devices.

Under the guidelines established by the European Space Agency (ESA), a specific effort was devoted to define the preliminary design concepts for a Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV) compatible with the Ariane 5 launcher. The mission objectives of this vehicle include the possibility of transporting 4 people (and a limited amount of pressurized payload) to the International Space Station Alpha (ISSA), and returning them to Earth safely. Different options were identified at system level, however a modular vehicle was commonly adopted: a Crew Module (CM) designed to withstand the typical phases of the atmospheric re-entry and provide an adequate environment for the crew during all the mission a Resource Module (RM) envisaged to provide the propulsion provisions for orbital transfer and deorbiting; in addition it carries all the necessary resources to support the mission from lift-off until separation from the CM.