Thermal Control System of X-ray Astronomy Satellite ASTRO-H: Current Development Status and Prospects

摘要

The current development status and prospects of the thermal control system of JAXA’s next major X-ray astronomy mission, ASTRO-H, are presented. ASTRO-H finished thermal balance tests (TBTs) with its thermal test model (TTM) in 2012 and is currently undergoing mechanical and electrical integration tests. ASTRO-H will be launched in 2015 after about one year of proto-flight model (PFM) system integration tests. The thermal mathematical models (TMMs) were correlated with the TTM TBT results, and the orbital thermal analyses were performed for 48 cases including not only the nominal cases but also the launch and contingency cases. According to the analysis results, some thermal designs such as the heater size and radiator area were changed. Also, some of the PFT hardware will be changed because of discrepancies found during and after the TTM TBTs. All of the design changes will be reflected to the PFM before system integration tests. The thermal design and the TMM will be finally verified by the TBTs in the PFM system integration tests campaign.