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DesignNews_080402_Phillips.pdf

To achieve a high level of energy density, as well as green environmental performance and safety, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) prefers to use cryogenic propellants, such as liquid oxygen, hydrogen and methane, to propel their spacecraft. However, these propellants are extremely cold, as low as -252ºC (-423ºF), and must be stored in thermally insulated tanks to keep the contents from boiling off. Making that challenge even tougher, next-generation NASA exploration missions will require spacecraft, such as the Altair Lunar Lander, to maintain cryogenicpropellants for extended durations of up to six months.

To explore the feasibility of insulating cryogenic propellants for extended periods of time, NASA awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant to Quest Product Development Corporation, Wheat Ridge, CO. The mission: Create a prototype of an advanced new thermal insulation system called “Integrated Multi-layer Insulation” (IMLI), within six months.

Quest Product Development Corporation partnered with Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to design IMLI thermal insulation, which involved engineering a system with multiple layers of radiation barriers held in precise spacing by a polymer substructure.