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The MUSES-B spacecraft will be launched in 1996 by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). ...The thermal design and verification has been performed separately for the major modules of the spacecraft; a main structure, a deployable antenna and Reaction Control System (RCS). Special attention is paid to the exposed RCS whose solar input varies significantly depending on the sun angle.

The thermal design of the LUNAR-A spacecraft, investigating the internal structure of the moon, is a challenge due to the widely varying thermal environments. ...Verification of the design was performed separately for the major spacecraft modules which consisted of a main structure, a propulsion subsystem and penetrators.

An effective thermal verification method for spacecrafts is introduced, in which their partial model or structural segment can be used in the test. ...The essence of this concept is to evaluate thermal design of the spacecraft by integrating a thermal vacuum test into thermal analyses system as a data generating subroutine. ...This direct coupling or “hybrid simulation” process is terminated when the thermal mathematical model is finalized to determine the spacecraft hardware design. This new method is capable of evaluating the thermal design of a large scale spacecraft in time and cost effectiveness with reasonable preciseness.

The ISAS's space VLBI satellite HALCA was successfully launched in February 1997. The spacecraft HALCA consists of a box shaped main structure and a large deployable mesh antenna with 8 m effective diameter. ...The integrated spacecraft with the mesh structure antenna is so large and complex that the thermal design and tests had been performed separately for the main structure and the large antenna. ...No thermal vacuum test had been conducted in the fully integrated spacecraft configuration. The complex heat exchange between the antenna and the main structure had been taken into account in the numerical thermal analysis.

The first generation of the SRD has been demonstrated on the MUSES-C ‘HAYABUSA’ spacecraft launched on May 9th 2003. This new thermal control device reduces the energy consumption of the on-board heater, and decreases the weight and the cost of the thermal control system. ...With the opportunity to validate the SRD in space, lightweight and low cost thermal control devices offer a possibility for flexible thermal control on interplanetary spacecraft.

Bonded only to the external surface of the spacecraft’s instruments, it controls the heat radiated to deep space without electrical or mechanical instruments used for changing emissivity. ...Its function is similar to the thermal louver which has been used for a lot of spacecraft, but the SRD is lighter than it. Thus, by using this new device, we can control the temperature of the instruments on the spacecraft more easily. ...Thus, by using this new device, we can control the temperature of the instruments on the spacecraft more easily. The materials of the SRD are La0.825Sr0.175MnO3 and La0.7Ca0.3MnO3. In this paper, design and preliminary test results of the SRD will be presented.

This is beneficial for thermal control applications on spacecraft. For example, bonded only to the external surface of the spacecraft's instruments, SRD controls the heat radiated to deep space without electrical instruments or mechanical parts used for changing emissivity.

We are developing a wireless multi-channel measurement system in order to measure temperatures during thermal vacuum tests of spacecraft, accelerations during vibration tests, etc. As a developing measurement system, we introduce the prototype model of the wireless temperature measurement system.

The Smart Radiation Device (SRD) is a new type of thermal control material for spacecraft. By changing its emissivity without using electrical instruments or mechanical parts, the SRD decreases the temperature variation of the applied place.

New thermal control material named Smart Radiation Device (SRD) has been studied to apply for spacecraft. Infrared radiative properties of the SRD change depending on its own temperature without electrical or mechanical instruments.

Bonded only to the external surface of spacecrafts, it controls the heat radiated to deep space without electrical or mechanical parts such as the thermal louver. ...By applying this new device for thermal control of spacecrafts, considerable weight and cost reductions can be achieved easily. In this paper, the new design and the new manufacturing process of the SRD and its optical properties, such as the total hemispherical emittance and the solar absorptance, are described.

Bonded only to the external surface of the spacecrafts, the SRD controls the temperature. The drawback of the SRD is the high solar absorptance.