Cryogenics in space: a review of the missions and of the technologies

Cryogenics has made a remarkable amount of progress over the last 15 years. The increased reliability and simplicity of operations of cryogenic equipm ent have allowed to install and to successfully operate them onboard spacec rafts. At the same time, the improved performance of cryogenic devices, suc h as sensors and cold electronics, has drastically enlarged their utilisati on, creating new perspectives for space-based applications. In this paper w e provide an up-to-date review of the non-military space missions making us e of cryogenic instrumentation and a summary of the present and envisaged a pplications of cryogenic equipment in space. The impact of cryogenics on th e spacecraft system design and the main technical solutions presently adopt ed are also discussed. Finally, this paper provides an outlook on near- and mid-term future activities involving cryogenics in space and on the relate d technology development, with particular emphasis on the work carried out by the European Space Agency. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.