Vacuum Thermal Cycling Facility

NASA Glenn Research Center
Space Environment and Experiments Branch

Vacuum Thermal Cycling Facility

Thermal cycling in vacuum to realistically simulate orbiting spacecraft.
Uniform heating provided by ceramic heater.
Radiant cooling provided by liquid nitrogen-cooled chamber.
Test samples automatically cycled between heating and cold chambers by manipulator arm actuated based on pre-set temperatures or by pre-set exposure time.
Sample exposure area approximately 8-by 8-cm.
Tests samples to 6.4-mm thick.
10-6-torr base vacuum pressure.
Adjustable thermal cycling temperature extremes (upper limit up to ~200 Celsius; lower temperature as low as -80 Celsius).
Computer-operated data acquisition of thermal cycling data.
Automatically controlled system for unattended operation.

VACUUM THERMAL CYCLING FACILITY

Durability of mirror-facet concentrator coupons for Solar Dynamic Ground Test Demonstration (SDGTD) program.
Coating adhesion for electric propulsion ion thruster surfaces.

Supporting future Low Earth Orbit missions.
Evaluating thermal cycling durability of newly developed coating systems for Low Earth Orbit applications.