Looking back at the Earth from space

One critical role for space science today is looking back on our home planet, and using highly sensitive satellites to observe conditions and changes on the Earth—truly taking the idea of stepping back for a better view to new heights. When NASA launched its environmental research satellite last year, it carried sensitive Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) instrumentation that used mission-critical cooling components from k Technology, a division of Thermacore.

SMAP任务旨在帮助科学家了解地球，能源和碳周期之间的联系。卫星在空间中充当地球天文台，提高了天气预报者和气候科学家监测和预测自然危害的能力，例如洪水，滑坡和干旱。农业和水资源经理使用SMAP土壤水分数据来开发水和气候模型。SMAP项目由JET推进实验室为NASA管理，戈达德太空飞行中心的参与。在整个SMAP任务中，卫星电子设备产生的内部热量必须不断被拒绝为外太空的寒冷和真空。

为了满足这一困难的热挑战，同时保持严格的重量和尺寸限制，NASA呼吁Thermacore的热管理和工程专业知识开发出独特的散热器（也称为倍增器），以冷却关键的电子总线巴士面板。
Instead of using typical aluminum heat-spreader material, the doubler uses k-Core Annealed Pyrolytic Graphite (APG) encapsulated within aluminum to form a composite panel. The six-millimeter thick panel is a sandwich comprised of an aluminum exterior shell that is 1 mm thick on each side wrapped around a 4-mm thick APG core. The advanced APG material enabled the large 0.7-m long and 0.7-m-wide panel to achieve a significant weight reduction of approximately 15 kg without sacrificing thermal performance.

The hard anodized plate was finished to support an array of thermal attachment points, thermally and electrically conductive areas, plus grounding areas. According to Mark Montesano, VP of Engineering, Thermacore k Technology Div., “The complex finishing requirements presented a challenging design. This project involved a detailed mechanical design as well as a finite element thermal analysis to determine component locations and specific geometry of the APG insert within the structure.”

The thermal/mechanical analysis identified such variables as graphite-edge distances and thru-hole features. The team undertook a predictive-performance analysis using an iterative process with JPL to determine optimum locations and component configuration. From that point, engineering drawings were generated for all the components, which were then released to the company’s fabrication facility for graphite machining, composite assembly and machining, plating and inspection. The panel was then shipped to JPL for bench testing, preflight evaluation and then installation on the spacecraft for the January 2015 launch.

除了SMAP任务的高级热溶液外，该公司还将为JPL Grace跟随任务的热时钟提供K核热表带。该任务计划于2017年推出，该任务将衡量储存在土地上的水的变化，该降水量已被存储为雪，渗入地面或蒸发，或者将盆地作为河流流动。

Thermacore
thermacore.com