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Cryogenic Optical Assembly (COA) cooldown analysis for the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft, developed by Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), was successfully launched on November 18, 1989 aboard a Delta expendable launch vehicle. Two of the three instruments for this mission were mounted inside a liquid helium (LHe) dewar which operates at a temperature of 2 K. These two instruments are the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) and the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS). They are mounted to a common Instrument Interface Structure (IIS) and the entire assembly is called the Cryogenic Optical Assembly (COA). As part of the structural verification requirement, it was necessary to show that the entire COA exhibited adequate strength and would be capable of withstanding the launch environment. This requirement presented an unique challenge for COBE because the COA is built and assembled at room temperature (300 K), cooled to 2 K, and then subjected to launch loads. However, strength testing of the entire COA at 2 K could not be done because of facility limitations. Therefore, it was decided to perform the strength verification of the COA by analysis.
Document ID
19940004712
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Coladonato, Robert J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Irish, Sandra M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Mosier, Carol L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1990
Publication Information
Publication: NASA. Langley Research Center, The Third Air Force(NASA Symposium on Recent Advances in Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization
Subject Category
Spacecraft Instrumentation
Accession Number
94N71467
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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