Thermal Vacuum Tests of Olympus Heat Pipe Radiators

The results of the thermal tests performed on the OLYMPUS Large Telecommunication Satellite Heat Pipe Radiators are presented. The test set-up maintained the Heat Pipes horizontal, the dissipation and thermal characteristics of electronic units being simulated by thermal dummies. The tests were divided in three phases with different temperatures of the chamber cryogenic shrouds to simulate the worst steady (equinox) cold case and investigate a fictitious extreme cold case (end of eclipse steady state) and an equivalent hot case. The results testify the adequacy of the Radiator design and the agreement between analytical predictions and temperatures measured during the test.