Mars Science Laboratory Mechanically Pumped Fluid Loop for Thermal Control - Design, Implementation, and Testing

Bhandari, Pradeep; Birur, Gajanana C.; Karlmann, Paul; Bame, David; Liu, Yuanming; Mastropietro, A. J.; Miller, Jennifer R.; Pauken, Michael; Ganapathi, Gani B.; Krylo, Robert; Kinter, Brad

doi:10.4271/2009-01-2437

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…It also greatly improves the robustness of the design, decouples the mechanical design and configuration from the thermal design and reduces the level of testing required. The references 8,9,10,11,12,13,15 provide a brief history of HRS loops, particularly from JPL's experience in using them for Mars missions. Figure 3 has the schematic of the fluid loop of the RHRS.…”

Section: Overall Msl Thermal Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

CFD Analysis For Assessing The Effect Of Wind On The Thermal Control Of The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover

Bhandari

Anderson

2013

43rd International Conference on Environmental Systems

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The challenging range of landing sites for which the Mars Science Laboratory Rover was designed, requires a rover thermal management system that is capable of keeping temperatures controlled across a wide variety of environmental conditions. On the Martian surface where temperatures can be as cold as -123 o C and as warm as 38 o C, the rover relies upon a Mechanically Pumped Fluid Loop (MPFL) Rover Heat Rejection System (RHRS) and external radiators to maintain the temperature of sensitive electronics and science instruments within a -40 o C to 50 o C range. The RHRS harnesses some of the waste heat generated from the rover power source, known as the Multi Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG), for use as survival heat for the rover during cold conditions. The MMRTG produces 110 W of electrical power while generating waste heat equivalent to approximately 2000 W. Heat exchanger plates (hot plates) positioned close to the MMRTG pick up this survival heat from it by radiative heat transfer. Winds on Mars can be as fast as 15 m/s for extended periods. They can lead to significant heat loss from the MMRTG and the hot plates due to convective heat pick up from these surfaces. Estimation of this convective heat loss cannot be accurately and adequately achieved by simple textbook based calculations because of the very complicated flow fields around these surfaces, which are a function of wind direction and speed. Accurate calculations necessitated the employment of sophisticated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) computer codes. This paper describes the methodology and results of these CFD calculations. Additionally, these results are compared to simple textbook based calculations that served as benchmarks and sanity checks for them. And finally, the overall RHRS system performance predictions will be shared to show how these results affected the overall rover thermal performance.Downloaded by PURDUE UNIVERSITY on July 30, 2015 | http://arc.aiaa.org |

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Section: Overall Msl Thermal Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

CFD Analysis For Assessing The Effect Of Wind On The Thermal Control Of The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover

Bhandari

Anderson

2013

43rd International Conference on Environmental Systems

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“…Papers describing the function of the Rover HRS in detail have been previously published. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Figures 7 and 8 are schematics showing the HRS system and its major components. In the cold case, the HRS pumps liquid Freon through tubes in hot plate heat exchangers, located on either side of the MMRTG, to pick up radiated waste heat from the MMRTG and bring it into the RAMP.…”

Section: B Brief Description Of Msl Rover Thermal Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Performance of the Mars Science Laboratory Rover During Mars Surface Operations

Novak

Kempenaar

Liu

et al. 2013

43rd International Conference on Environmental Systems

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On November 26, 2011, NASA launched a large (900 kg) rover as part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission to Mars. Eight months later, on August 5, 2012, the MSL rover (Curiosity) successfully touched down on the surface of Mars. As of the writing of this paper, the rover had completed over 200 Sols of Mars surface operations in the Gale Crater landing site (4.5°S latitude). This paper describes the thermal performance of the MSL Rover during the early part of its two Earth-0.year (670 Sols) prime surface mission. Curiosity landed in Gale Crater during early Spring (Ls=151) in the Southern Hemisphere of Mars. This paper discusses the thermal performance of the rover from landing day (Sol 0) through Summer Solstice (Sol 197) and out to Sol 204. The rover surface thermal design performance was very close to pre-landing predictions. The very successful thermal design allowed a high level of operational power dissipation immediately after landing without overheating and required a minimal amount of survival heating. Early morning operations of cameras and actuators were aided by successful heating activities. MSL rover surface operations thermal experiences are discussed in this paper. Conclusions about the rover surface operations thermal performance are also presented.

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“…This tubing was originally developed for heat pipe construction for use on the Mars Science Laboratory. 19 The narrow channels between the fins trap excess fluid in the tube and spread it axially by means of capillary forces, thus preventing the liquid from coalescing into slugs. With this fin design, the total inter-fin channel volume accounts for approximately 30% of the total internal tube volume, providing sufficient space to trap the excess 15% of un-evacuated liquid.…”

Section: E Internally Finned Tubing Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluid Line Evacuation and Freezing Experiments for Digital Radiator Concept

Berisford

Birur

Miller

et al. 2011

41st International Conference on Environmental Systems

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Mars Science Laboratory Mechanically Pumped Fluid Loop for Thermal Control - Design, Implementation, and Testing

Cited by 9 publications

References 10 publications

CFD Analysis For Assessing The Effect Of Wind On The Thermal Control Of The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover

CFD Analysis For Assessing The Effect Of Wind On The Thermal Control Of The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover

Thermal Performance of the Mars Science Laboratory Rover During Mars Surface Operations

Fluid Line Evacuation and Freezing Experiments for Digital Radiator Concept

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