Thermal Vacuum Test Performance of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) Variable Conductance Heat Pipe Assembly 2003-01-2459
The Variable Conductance Heat Pipe (VCHP) Assembly of the HST Wide Field Camera 3 was subjected to thermal vacuum (T/V) environmental testing. The test program included both maximum and minimum environments as well as simulated on-orbit cycling. Elements of the VCHP assembly included a VCHP, an optical bench cold plate with an imbedded constant conductance heat pipe, and a VCHP reservoir radiator with a proportionally controlled heater.
The purpose of the test was to characterize and demonstrate the assembly's ability to control the temperature of the cold plate, which provides a stable thermal environment for the instrument's optical bench.
This paper discusses the VCHP Assembly control performance and control authority during the dynamic hot and cold 90-minute orbit cycling test phases.
Citation: Cleveland, P., Buchko, M., Stavely, R., and Pham, B., "Thermal Vacuum Test Performance of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) Variable Conductance Heat Pipe Assembly," SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-2459, 2003, https://doi.org/10.4271/2003-01-2459. Download Citation
Author(s):
Paul E. Cleveland, Matthew T. Buchko, Richard A. Stavely, Bruce T. Pham
Affiliated:
NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center
Pages: 11
Event:
International Conference On Environmental Systems
ISSN:
0148-7191
e-ISSN:
2688-3627
Related Topics:
Environmental testing
Assembling
Conductivity
Radiators
SAE MOBILUS
Subscribers can view annotate, and download all of SAE's content.
Learn More »
