Design and test of a modified passive orbital disconnect strut (PODS-IV)

The design and testing of a modification to the Passive Orbital Disconnect Struts (PODS) III system (designed to reduce support conductance and superfluid-helium-tank dewar weights), PODS IV, are discussed. The PODS IV design was found to achieve a nominal increase of 630-812 percent in side-load resistance over the PODS-III design, with a predicted 15-percent increase in thermal conductance. It is noted that the increase in side-load resistance largely removes the limitation on length of the orbit tube inherent in the PODS III design. The higher resistance of the longer orbit tube results in lower total conductance for the PODS-IV design.