Abstract
A simple generic cryostat thermal model has been developed for the purpose of predicting cryogen mass and lifetime of cryogenic space telescopes. The model was created for use with the Martin Marietta thermal analyser, mini-MITAS, on microcomputers. The model is based on a lumped parameter representation of eight nodes and over 35 conductors. The major telescope dewar components represented as nodes are the main cryogen tank, the three vapour-cooled shields, the outer shell, barrel baffle and the barrel baffle heat exchanger. The input to the model consists of the vapour-cooled shield, support straps and instrument cable geometry and the cryostat heat loads from the instrument and through the aperture. The outer shell and superfluid helium temperatures are assumed to be known. The predictions from the model were compared with those from the more detailed models of IRAS, COBE and SIRTF. Correlation of the helium flow rates of the IRAS and COBE Dewars was 12% above the actual flight or ground test data and for SIRTF it was less than 2% of the prediction from the detailed model. Currently, this model is being used for the conceptual design studies of the Submillimetre Imager and Line Survey (SMILS) telescope.
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