Contamination limiter for reducing outgassed volatile condensable materials from external sensitive optical and thermal surfaces of a spacecraft
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsAnthony Pang, Julie Xie, Eleazar P. Lontoc
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Abstract
One embodiment includes a contamination limiter for a spacecraft. The contamination limiter includes a body having an interior. An inlet is fluidly coupled to the interior of the body. A collector plate is positioned within the interior of the body. A UV light source is directed at a surface of the collector plate. An exterior vent is fluidly coupled to the interior of the body. A volatile condensable material from the spacecraft is photofixed by the UV light exposure to the collector plate prior to venting through an exterior vent to an exterior of the spacecraft.
Claims20
A contamination limiter for a spacecraft, the contamination limiter comprising:
- a body having an interior;
- an inlet and exterior vent, both the inlet and exterior vent fluidly coupled to the interior of the body via an inlet collimator and an exterior vent collimator, the inlet collimator and exterior vent collimator defining a flow path of volatile condensable material (VCM);
- a collector plate comprising embedded cooling channels and a nonporous upstream surface facing the inlet, the collector plate positioned within the interior of the body and relative the inlet collimator and exterior collimator to promote VCMs to contact the collector plate;
- and
- an ultraviolet (UV) light source directed at the upstream surface of the collector plate, the UV light source positioned within the interior of the body in a location upstream of the collector plate to promote adhesion of the VCMs to the collector plate.
A spacecraft, comprising:
- one or more interior compartments;
- one or more electronic components disposed in the one or more interior compartments, the one or more electronic components outgassing a volatile condensable material (VCM) during space conditions;
- and
- a contamination limiter, comprising:
- a body having an interior;
- an inlet fluidly coupled to the interior of the body and fluidly coupled to the one or more interior compartments;
- a collector plate comprising embedded cooling channels and a nonporous upstream surface facing the inlet and positioned within the interior of the body, the collector plate positioned against an exterior wall of the spacecraft;
- an ultraviolet (UV) light source directed at a surface of the collector plate to photofix the VCM to the surface of the collector plate as polymerized VCMs thereon;
- and
- an exterior vent fluidly coupled to the interior of the body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.