ULTRA RELIABLE CRYOCOOLER FOR SATELLITE SENSOR COOLING

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE II PROJECT IS TO EXPERIMENTALLY DEMONSTRATE THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL STIRLING CYCLE CRYOCOOLER WITH INNOVATIVE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION FEATURES. THE EFFORT ENTAILS DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPONENTS, INTEGRATION INTO AN ENGINEERING MODEL CRYOCOOLER, AND TESTING OF THE CRYOCOOLER FOR PERFORMANCE AND ENDURANCE. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS OF THE INNOVATIVE DESIGN INCLUDE FIVE PLUS YEARS OPERATING LIFE WITH HIGH RELIABILITY, HIGH EFFICIENCY, LIGHT WEIGHT AND LOW COST. THE DURABILITY OF THE CENTRAL DESIGN FEATURE WAS SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED IN THE PREVIOUS RESEARCH EFFORT. POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF THIS DEVELOPMENT INCLUDE THE COOLING OF OPTICAL SENSORS, CRYOSTAT THERMAL SHIELDS, BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH SPECIMENTS, AND HIGH Tc SUPERCONDUCTING DEVICES. PROLIFERATION OF THE LATTER WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED BY THE AVAILABILITY OF ROBUST AND RELIABLE LOW COST SMALL CRYOCOOLERS.