Thermal Design Verification Testing of the Solar Array Cooling System for Parker Solar Probe

Parker Solar Probe (PSP) will explore the inner region of the heliosphere through in-situ and remote sensing observations of the magnetic field, plasma, and accelerated particles. PSP will travel closer to the Sun [9.86 solar radii (RS)] than any previous spacecraft to obtain repeated coronal magnetic field and plasma measurements in the region of the Sun that generates the solar wind. The baseline mission will entail 7 years from launch in 2018 until the completion of the 24th orbit and, if delays necessitate, a backup 8-year 26-orbit mission will be flown with launch in 2019. During its lifetime, the spacecraft will be exposed to wide ranging thermal environments from the cold of Venus eclipse to exposures to the sun’s corona that produces a perihelion solar constant in excess of 480 suns. Spacecraft power is generated using photovoltaic solar arrays that are actively cooled by the SACS (Solar Array Cooling System), manufactured by Hamilton Sundstrand, Windsor Locks CT. This paper will describe the equivalent “Test Like You Fly” environments that were simulated and the results achieved during the SACS qualification and thermal design verification vacuum testing that took place at GSFC between March 1 and March 16, 2017.