How many students…

Cubesat, August 21, 2020

How many students does it take to remove a thermal model from a thermal vacuum chamber? Well, in this case, four as shown on the photo. However, an extra hand is always good to have and Kaarel Repän (front left) was happy to have the help of Purichmun Low, Jacobo Parra and Emmeric Vitztum (from left to right). Indeed this was again an important step for the project CLIMB. As part of his Master thesis, Kaarel has developed an experimental model of the CLIMB 3U CubeSat. This model is equipped with 9 individually controllable heater, simulating all sources of heat within the satellite during operation, and up to 10 thermocouples. The major objective of this experimental thermal model is to verify the results of the numerical model (also developed by Kaarel) and to develop a thermal control system for the satellite. The picture shows how the students remove the thermal model from the new thermal vacuum chamber (TVC) of the Aerospace Engineering Department. This new TVC facility is special since it allows to operate the thruster while simulating real space conditions with a vacuum down to 5 x 10 mbar and temperatures between -30°C and +60°C.