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Heat pipes, loop heat pipes and capillary pumped loops are heat transfer devices driven by capillary forces with high-effectiveness & performance, offering high-reliability & flexibility in varying g-environments. They are suitable for spacecraft thermal control where the mass, volume, and power budgets are very limited. The Canadian Space Agency is developing loop heat pipe hardware aimed at understanding the thermal performance of two-phase heat transfer devices and in developing numerical simulation techniques using thermo-hydraulic mathematical models, to enable development of novel thermal control technologies. This loop heat pipe consists of a cylindrical evaporator, compensation chamber, condenser along with vapor and liquid lines, which can be easily assembled/disassembled for test purposes. This laboratory setup is especially designed to enable the visualization of fluid flow and phase change phenomena.

This paper describes the thermal design, analysis and test of a Microgravity Vibration Isolation System (MVIS) that will ensure the active isolation of the European Space Agency’s Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL) payload from vibration induced by the International Space Station (ISS) structure. The FSL is equipped with optical and electronic devices that are very sensitive to vibration, thermal distortion, temperature change and Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI). The MVIS has to provide a vibration attenuation of −40dB within the range of 0.1–100Hz without inducing thermal or electromagnetic interferences. The sensitive FSL instruments are mounted in a floating structure called the Facility Core Element (FCE), whereas the rest of the FSL electronics, mechanics and cooling systems are fixed to the International Standard Payload Rack (ISPR).

The thermal control of lunar landers/rovers necessitates the use of a system to allow heat rejection to the high temperature lunar environment. In this context a vapour compression heat pump which is a proven technology in terrestrial and aeronautical applications has been studied; its suitability in providing 2 kW cooling capability with adequate temperature lift for final heat rejection by space radiators is assessed. The stringent requirements of space-based hardware in terms of temperature lift, compactness, mass, performance and reliability necessitates optimization studies. Mass optimization of the heat pump components has been carried out, as well as selection of refrigerants and thermodynamic cycles most suited for the application.