THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF AN INTEGRATED THERMAL PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR LONG-TERM STORAGE OF CRYOGENIC PROPELLANTS IN SPACE

摘要

It was demonstrated that cryogenic propellants can be stored unvented in space long enough to accomplish a Saturn orbiter mission after a 1200-day coast. The thermal design of a hydrogen-fluorine rocket stage was carried out and the hydrogen tank, its support structure, and ther-mal protection system were tested in a vacuum chamber. Heat transfer rates of approximately 23 W were measured in tests to simulate the near-Earth portion of the mission. Tests to simu¬late the majority of the time the vehicle would be in deep space and sun-oriented resulted in a heat transfer rate of 0.11 W.