METHOD FOR COOLING DOWN SYSTEM OF SPACE OBJECT OPERATING IN VACUUM WHEN SIMULATING NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS Russian patent published in 2020 - IPC B64G7/00 

FIELD: astronautics.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates, primarily, to ground-based heat-vacuum testing of space object systems (SOS). Method includes installation of SOS in vacuum chamber with cryo-screen (CS), which is evacuated and SOS is simultaneously chilled down, supplying liquid nitrogen into CS cavity. Prior to the beginning of the SOS tests, the CS is marked by height at the specified intervals, the chamber without SOS is evacuated to the specified pressure and when the CS is filled with liquid nitrogen the temperature (T) CS is fixed at each interval, which is close to T of boiling of liquid nitrogen. Simultaneously, T is measured at the highest point of the CS when the quasi-stationary state is reached. This T is compared with the fixed T CS at different heights - until the CS complete filling. As a result, the variation of T of the upper point of the CS is obtained from the height of its filling with liquid nitrogen. When placing SOS in the chamber, a horizontal projection of its upper point on the marked CS is found. After evacuation of the chamber with SOS, CS is filled with liquid nitrogen only up to the above projection, controlling T at the highest point of the cryo-screen in accordance with the obtained T dependence on height.

EFFECT: technical result of invention is reduction of energy and labour costs, reduction of SOS cooling time.

1 cl, 1 dwg