FIELD: measuring.
SUBSTANCE: apparatus and method for measuring the density of incident heat fluxes in ground-based thermal vacuum testing of spacecraft relate to space engineering, namely, to control of the heat regime of a spacecraft exposed to a space-simulating environment. Apparatus for measuring the density of incident heat fluxes in ground-based thermal vacuum testing of spacecraft is made of two nodes located adjacently in one plane and each including two flat parallel plates — radiant energy receivers (RER) with temperature sensors adhered on the outer surfaces thereof. Selective temperature control coatings with fixed radiation coefficients of absorption-emission of the solar and infrared spectra are therein applied on the plates, and the plates themselves are made of materials with a high value of thermal diffusivity coefficients. Method for measuring the density of incident heat fluxes in ground-based thermal vacuum testing of spacecraft, based on measuring four values of the temperature on the RER panels located in pairs in one plane is characterised by the fact that, in a time-discrete survey of the measured temperature values of the RER panels, the values of temperature gradients thereof are calculated simultaneously, used to determine, based thereon, according to special software algorithms, the current values of semi-spherical spectral densities of incident fluxes of solar and infrared emission on opposite sides of the apparatus when the intrinsic thermal inertia of the apparatus is minimal.
EFFECT: increase in the accuracy of modelling the standard operating conditions of a spacecraft in terms of simulating dynamic incident radiant fluxes, and differentiated estimation and control of the fractional impact of the spectral composition of incident radiant fluxes of solar and infrared emission on the thermal conditions of the test object; use of the proposed invention reduces the time and improves the quality of ground-based thermal vacuum testing of spacecraft, thereby increasing the reliability of operation of spacecraft.
2 cl, 1 tbl, 7 dwg
