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Cryogenic coolers for small satellites require low power and minimum weight. The need for exceptional reliability in a space cooler is even more critical on small satellites since cooler redundancy is often not an option due to weight constraints. In this paper we report on a reliable, small, efficient, low-power, vibrationally balanced cooler designed specifically for use on small satellites. TRW has designed, built, and tested a miniature integral Stirling cooler for long-life space application. This efficient low-vibration cooler weighs 1.4 kg and was developed for cooling infrared sensors to temperatures as low as 50 K on lightsats. The vibrationally balanced nonwearing design Stirling cooler incorporates clearance seals maintained by flexure springs for both the compressor and the driven displacer. The design achieved its performance goal of 0.25 watt at 65 K for an input power to the compressor of 12 watts.

In this paper we report on a reliable, small, efficient, low power, vibrationally balanced pulse tube cooler designed specifically for use on small satellites. The pulse tube cooler reliability derives from the absence of cold moving parts. The vibrationally balanced, miniature, integral pulse tube cooler, intended for a 10-year long-life space application, incorporates a nonwearing flexure bearing compressor vibrationally balanced by a motor-controlled balancer and a completely passive pulse tube cold head. Cooler weight is 2.0 kg. The maximum cooling power measured at 80 K is 800 mW for an input power to the compressor of 30 watts. The cooler is suitable for cooling sensors and optics between 60 K and 200 K, with powers up to 3.5 watts at 200 K. Self-induced vibration measurements indicate that the cooler can be balanced to reduce vibration forces below 0.02 newtons (N) from 0 to 1000 Hz. The first flight is scheduled for 1996.