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An adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR)* technology developed at Goddard has been chosen to be flown on two missions selected by NASA Headquarters as the Agency’s next Explorer Program* Mission of Opportunity investigations, with funding totaling more than $44 million. This achievement is the result of more than ten years of work on ADR technology development and the efforts of the technology development team as well as Goddard’s Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP) Office to find incremental funding sources and partnerships to keep the research active and progressing. The two missions will use state-of-the-art X-ray telescopes and cooled microcalorimeter arrays to study black holes and dark energy. NASA plans to fly a two-stage ADR unit on both missions, demonstrating a significant improvement over ADR technology flown on previous missions. “Only single-stage ADRs have been flown in the past, and for the last ten years we’ve actually been developing a four-stage ADR that runs continuously—a CADR,” said Peter Shirron, who leads the ADR and CADR development efforts for Goddard. “The two-stage ADR we’re developing for these newly funded investigations is not as advanced as the four-stage CADR we’ve been working on, but it meets the requirements of the missions very successfully, and we’re excited that it is an improvement on ADR technology flown in the past.” Taking an Innovative Technology into Space ADR and CADR technologies provide cryogenic cooling capabilities for space-based applications such as infrared and X-ray detectors that must be cooled close to absolute zero. Built by a team led by Shirron, a two-stage ADR will be flown on the Spektrum Roentgen Gamma (SRG)*, which will be launched on a Russian rocket in 2011 to conduct all-sky surveys to identify prime targets for more intensive observations. A little over a year later, the technology will fly on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s New Exploration X-Ray Telescope (NeXT)*. The ADR unit (along with a liquid helium cooler provided by the Japanese for NeXT) will provide non-continuous cooling for the mission-critical components on the telescopes. Because both X-ray instruments use sufficiently small detector arrays, the heat loads that must be dealt with are small enough that continuous cooling—and therefore a CADR—is not needed for the two missions, Shirron said. But the work being funded under these two proposals is opening up research and development (R&D) doors that may in turn increase the advancement of ADR and CADR technologies alike for future NASA missions. Patience Pays Off “This funding opportunity is a huge breakthrough,” said Shirron. “Over the last ten years, through the efforts of our research team and the folks in the Innovative Partnerships Program Office, we’ve been able to get incremental amounts of funding that have kept our work going and helped us establish a worldwide reputation as the leader in ADR technologies. That is really what has helped us arrive at this success.” Shirron himself has been a great champion of technology transfer and funding acquisition efforts, working closely with the IPP Office to advance cryo-cooling technologies. Goddard’s IPP Office provided Shirron and his team with R&D funding in 2001 and 2002 under its Commercial Technology Development (CTD) Program and more recently helped him prepare a Partnership Seed Fund* proposal that was awarded funds in 2006, allowing Goddard to partner with Lake Shore Cryotronics and Lockheed Martin. Shirron leads this ongoing partnership with the goal of increasing the technology readiness level (TRL) of Goddard’s CADR technology in preparation for advanced missions such as Constellation-X. And although the two new Explorer Program missions will fly an ADR rather than a CADR, Shirron said the hardware performance improvements made possible by the Seed Fund are applicable to the ADR technology as well and therefore were key to its infusion into these two missions. But Shirron’s involvement with the IPP Office was not simply financial. He has also worked alongside the IPP Office to promote Goddard’s cryo-cooling technologies at various symposia and events, such as the annual conference for the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE). These efforts led to Shirron’s being awarded the 2005 James Kerley Award for excellence in technology transfer. “It has been a pleasure to work with Peter to mature the CADR technology,” said Darryl Mitchell of Goddard’s IPP Office. “His dedication to technology transfer and partnerships played a big role in the many ‘small wins’ along the way that have now led to this major accomplishment. We could not be more pleased.” Shirron said that staying in close connection with the IPP Office and playing an active role in these technology transfer efforts has been a large factor leading to incremental funding opportunities and partnerships, which ultimately led to ADR’s infusion in the two new Exploration Program missions. “Funding is always a challenge and it often seems like you’re getting just enough to stay afloat. But all those small steps along the way are what helped us get a foot through this very large door – to move the last ten years of work forward,” said Shirron. “Now, we’re standing on the edge of exactly what we’ve been waiting for.” Learn More about How IPP Supports Innovators and Goddard’s Strategic Objectives As demonstrated in this success story, Goddard’s IPP Office identifies and secures agreements with partners that can contribute to NASA’s technology developments while supporting economic growth, humankind, and the success of our partners. The Office strategically promotes Goddard as a “Technology Partner of Choice.” The IPP Office encourages Goddard innovators to get in touch with us to learn how we can help:
(July 8, 2008)
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