Two-Phase Thermal Control Technology for Small Spacecraft Exploration

This technology
•Provides order of magnitude reduction in TCS power and 50% reduction in mass over current state-of-the-art.
•Accommodates high heat fluxes up to 5 W/cm²; isothermalization of < 2 C over a 1-m payload bench; temporal stability of < 0.05 C/minute.
•Modular, scalable, configurable to enable integration and at reduced costs. High degree of control authority results in less thermal vacuum testing time.

The ability to transfer heat over long distances and various interfaces with minimal drop in temperature permits the effective re-use of equipment power dissipations. This permits NASA to consider solar-powered missions to outer planets without the need for excessively large solar arrays.

Commercial communication satellites that deal with powers on the order of 10 kWatts can save upwards of 30% on their flight system mass through this technology.

This technology benefits other government agencies that must manage high heat flux loads, such as those associated with directed energy projects. This technology can be customized to accommodate heat fluxes greater than 500 W/cm².

Two-Phase thermal control could apply to: Planetary science missions (Outer planet missions, Venus surface missions, Mars comm relays, Asteroid missions), Earth science missions (High power RF observatories, Hi-res optical), Heliophysics/astrophysics missions (Solar probes, Exo- Planet finders).