The Thermal Loop can provide tight temperature control, reduce the need for supplemental heaters, modulate heat rejection, allow optimal placement of components, and afford flexibility for spacecraft design, integration and testing. This technology will enable the thermal control for future spacecraft to be more efficient, result in lower mass, less power consumption, and improved compactness.

Successful validation of this advanced thermal control technology will be a major contribution toward the advancement of small spacecraft.

Implementation of such a thermal management system will benefit several future NASA missions, including:

• Mars Missions: Mars Science Laboratory, Mars Scouts

• Sun Earth Connection Theme: Magnetospheric Constellation, Solar Sentinels

The ST8 Thermal Loop is being developed by and tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Jentung Ku.