The balloon-borne cryogenic telescope testbed is a stratospheric balloon payload intended to develop technology for a future cryogenic suborbital observatory. A series of flights are intended to establish ultra-light dewar performance and open-aperture observing techniques for large (3 m–5 m diameter) cryogenic telescopes at infrared wavelengths. An initial flight in 2019 demonstrated bulk transfer of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium at stratospheric altitudes. An 827 kg payload carried 14 l of liquid nitrogen (LN2) and 268 l of liquid helium (LHe) in pressurized storage dewars to an altitude of 39.7 km. Once at float altitude, liquid nitrogen transfer cooled a separate, unpressurized bucket dewar to a temperature of 65 K, followed by the transfer of 32 l of liquid helium from the storage dewar into the bucket dewar. Calorimetric tests measured the total heat leak to the LHe bath within the bucket dewar. A subsequent flight will replace the receiving bucket dewar with an ultra-light dewar of similar size to compare the performance of an ultra-light design dewar to that of conventional superinsulated dewars.
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The balloon-borne cryogenic telescope testbed mission: Bulk cryogen transfer at 40 km altitude
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December 2020
Research Article|
December 01 2020
The balloon-borne cryogenic telescope testbed mission: Bulk cryogen transfer at 40 km altitude
A. Kogut
;
A. Kogut
a)
1
Code 665, Goddard Space Flight Center
, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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T. Essinger-Hileman
;
T. Essinger-Hileman
1
Code 665, Goddard Space Flight Center
, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
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S. Denker;
S. Denker
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland
, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
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N. Bellis;
N. Bellis
b)
3
Sigma Space Corp
, Lanham, Maryland 20706, USA
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L. Lowe;
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
b)
Permanent address: Code 665, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
Rev. Sci. Instrum. 91, 124501 (2020)
Article history
Received:
July 13 2020
Accepted:
October 31 2020
Citation
A. Kogut, T. Essinger-Hileman, S. Denker, N. Bellis, L. Lowe, P. Mirel; The balloon-borne cryogenic telescope testbed mission: Bulk cryogen transfer at 40 km altitude. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1 December 2020; 91 (12): 124501. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0021483
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