JPL cryocooler development and test program: a 10-year overview

Abstract

In the 1988 timeframe increasing numbers of proposed space-instrument programs within NASA and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) were in need of high-reliability, long-life, low-vibration space cryocoolers. To ensure the success of its emerging cryogenic instrument commitments, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) implemented a focused multi-year cryocooler program. Over the past 10 years the JPL cryocooler program has included the procurement/development of pulse tube cryocoolers for the AIRS, TES and IMAS JPL/NASA instruments, performed extensive characterization testing of 22 industry-developed cryocoolers, developed and flight-tested a wide variety of cryocooler integration technologies, and developed sorption cryocoolers for use at 10 to 25 K. An overview of the ten years of progress is presented together with a thorough bibliography of published documents describing the work.