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Preliminary Trade Study of Phase Change Heat SinksFor short durations, phase change based heat rejection systems are a very effective way of removing heat from spacecraft. Future NASA vehicles, such as the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), will require non-radiative heat rejection systems during at least a portion of the planned mission, just as their predecessors have. While existing technologies are available to modify, such as Apollo era sublimators, or the Space Shuttle Flash Evaporator System (FES), several new technologies are under development or investigation to progress beyond these existing heat rejection systems. Examples include the Multi-Fluid Evaporator developed by Hamilton Sundstrand, improvements upon the Contaminant Insensitive Sublimator originally developed for the X-38 program, and a Compact Flash Evaporator System (CFES). Other possibilities evaluate new ways of operating existing designs. The new developments are targeted at increasing operating life, expanding the environments in which the system can operate, improving the mass and volume characteristics, or some combination of these or other improvements. This paper captures the process and results of a preliminary trade study performed at Johnson Space Center to compare the various existing and proposed phase change based heat rejection systems for the CEV. Because the new systems are still in development, and the information on existing systems is extrapolation, this trade study is not meant to suggest a final decision for future vehicles. The results of this early trade study are targeted to aid the development efforts for the new technologies by identifying issues that could reduce the chances of selection for the CEV.
Document ID
20080026003
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Anderson, Molly
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Leimkeuhler, Thomas
(Honeywell, Inc. United States)
Quinn, Gregory
(Hamilton Sundstrand Corp. United States)
Golliher, Eric
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
July 17, 2006
Subject Category
Launch Vehicles And Launch Operations
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Conference on Environmental Systems
Location: Norfolk, VA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 17, 2006
End Date: July 20, 2006
Sponsors: Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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