AMTEC flight experiment progress and plans

An experiment is being developed to validate the performance of AMTEC technology in the space microgravity environment. A group of AMTEC cells have been fabricated and assembled into an experiment module and instrumented for operation. The experiment is manifested as a Hitchhiker payload on STS-88 now planned for flight in July 1998. The AMTEC cells will be operated in space for up to ten days. The microgravity developed distribution of the sodium working fluid will be frozen in place before the cells are returned to Earth. Upon return the cells will be destructively evaluated to determine the location of the sodium and to assure that the sodium has been properly controlled by the sodium control elements. This paper describes the experiment purpose, status and plans for the flight operations and data analysis. An overview of how this experiment fits into the overall AMTEC development is also provided.