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Large scale refrigeration plant for ground testing the James Webb telescope at NASA Johnson Space Center.

Author(s) : ARNOLD P., DECKER L., HOWE D., et al.

Summary

The James Webb Telescope is the successor to the Hubble Telescope and will be placed in an orbit of 1.5 million km from earth. Before launch in 2014, the telescope will be tested in NASA Johnson Space Center's space simulation chamber, Chamber A. The tests will be conducted at the deep space conditions of low pressure and temperature. Chamber A's helium cryopanels are currently cooled down to 20 K by two Linde 3.5 kW refrigerators. The new 12.5 kW, 20 K Coldbox described in this paper is part of the upgrade to the chamber systems for this large test program. The Linde Coldbox will provide refrigeration power in several operating modes where temperatures and refrigeration power are controlled with high accuracy due to the demanding NASA test requirements. The implementation of two parallel expansion turbine strings and the Ganni floating pressure cycle results in a highly efficient and flexible process that reduces the electrical power input. This paper describes the collaboration and execution of the Coldbox project.

Details

  • Original title: Large scale refrigeration plant for ground testing the James Webb telescope at NASA Johnson Space Center.
  • Record ID : 2010-0376
  • Languages: English
  • Source: Deutsche Kälte-Klima-Tagung: 2009, Berlin.
  • Publication date: 2009/11/18

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