The thermal design, characterization, and performance of the Spider long-duration balloon cryostat

J. E. Gudmundsson*, P. A.R. Ade, M. Amiri, S. J. Benton, J. J. Bock, J. R. Bond, S. A. Bryan, H. C. Chiang, C. R. Contaldi, B. P. Crill, O. Dore, J. P. Filippini, A. A. Fraisse, A. Gambrel, N. N. Gandilo, M. Hasselfield, M. Halpern, G. Hilton, W. Holmes, V. V. HristovK. D. Irwin, W. C. Jones, Z. Kermish, C. J. MacTavish, P. V. Mason, K. Megerian, L. Moncelsi, T. E. Montroy, T. A. Morford, J. M. Nagy, C. B. Netterfield, A. S. Rahlin, C. D. Reintsema, J. E. Ruhl, M. C. Runyan, J. A. Shariff, J. D. Soler, A. Trangsrud, C. Tucker, R. S. Tucker, A. D. Turner, D. V. Wiebe, E. Young

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We describe the Spider flight cryostat, which is designed to cool six millimeter-wavelength telescopes during an Antarctic long-duration balloon flight. The cryostat, one of the largest to have flown on a stratospheric payload, uses liquid 4He to deliver cooling power to stages at 4.2 and 1.6 K. Stainless steel capillaries facilitate a high flow impedance connection between the main liquid helium tank and a smaller superfluid tank, allowing the latter to operate at 1.6 K as long as there is liquid in the 4.2 K main tank. Each telescope houses a closed cycle 3He adsorption refrigerator that further cools the focal planes down to 300 mK. Liquid helium vapor from the main tank is routed through heat exchangers that cool radiation shields, providing negative thermal feedback. The system performed successfully during a 17 day flight in the 2014-2015 Antarctic summer. The cryostat had a total hold time of 16.8 days, with 15.9 days occurring during flight.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)65-76
Number of pages12
JournalCryogenics
Volume72
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2015

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
S pider is supported in the U.S. by National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant No. NNX07AL64G and NNX12AE95G issued through the Science Mission Directorate, with support for ASR from NESSF NNX10AM55H, and by the National Science Foundation through PLR-1043515. Logistical support for the Antarctic deployment and operations was provided by the NSF through the U.S. Antarctic Program. The collaboration is grateful for the generous support of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which has been crucial to the success of the project.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Other keywords

  • Cosmic microwave background
  • Cryostat
  • Instrumentation
  • Stratospheric payload

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