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Status of the Relativity Mission superfluid helium flight dewar.

Author(s) : READ D. C., PARMLEY R. T., TABER M. A., et al.

Type of article: Article

Summary

The world's largest capacity helium flight dewar has been assembled for use on the Relativity Mission, also known as Gravity Probe-B (GP-B). Acceptance tests have been successfully performed and the dewar has been delivered to Stanford University. The science mission dewar is the first piece of flight hardware delivered for GP-B. It will be used in testing to demonstrate payload functionality with a prototypical Science Instrument Assembly, the flight spare probe (Probe-B), and prototypical electronics. The paper reviews the key design features of the dewar, especially those driven by the ultralow magnetic field requirements. The measured mass, helium boil-off, and ground hold performance are compared to those of the previously launched superfluid helium cryostats (IRAS, COBE, and ISO).

Details

  • Original title: Status of the Relativity Mission superfluid helium flight dewar.
  • Record ID : 2000-2351
  • Languages: English
  • Source: Cryogenics - vol. 39 - n. 4
  • Publication date: 1999/04

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