Low-Temperature Radiometer

Many present and future NASA missions require high-performance, large-scale cryogenic systems, such as the sunshields and cold instruments for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Testing these systems is problematic because of both the size and the low heat loads allowed. The heat loads can be greatly influenced by non-ideal blackbody characteristics of the test chamber, and by stray heat from warmer parts of the system and ground support equipment. Previously, stray thermal energy was not directly measured, but inferred from deviations in the expected results, which leads to errors in thermal modeling and in lack of knowledge of the thermal performance of the item under test. Technologists at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center have developed a radiometer to help identify the sources of stray heat and to make non-contact thermal emission measurements of such materials as vapor-deposited aluminum on Kapton and multilayer insulation blankets, as well as background measurements of non-ideal chamber effects such as light leaks and radiation bounces.