Thermal Design of Blackbody for On-Board Calibration of Spaceborne Infrared Imaging Sensor

In this study, we propose a thermal design for an on-board blackbody (BB) for spaceborne infrared (IR) sensor calibration. The main function of the on-board BB is to provide highly uniform and precise radiation temperature reference sources from 0 degrees C to 40 degrees C during the calibration of the IR sensor. To meet the functional requirements of BB, a BB thermal design using a heater to heat the BB during sensor calibration and heat pipes to transfer residual heat to the radiator after calibration is proposed and investigated both numerically and experimentally. The main features of the proposed thermal design are a symmetric temperature gradient on the BB surface with less than 1 K temperature uniformity, ease of temperature sensor implementation to estimate the representative surface temperature of the BB, a stable thermal interface between the heat pipes and BB, and a fail-safe function under one heat pipe failure. The thermal control performance of the BB is investigated via in-orbit thermal analysis, and its effectiveness is verified via a heat-up test of the BB under ambient conditions. These results indicate that the temperature gradient on the BB surface was obtained at less than 1 K, and the representative surface temperature could be estimated with an accuracy of 0.005 degrees C via the temperature sensor.

Automated summary

This study proposes a thermal design for an on-board blackbody for spaceborne infrared sensor calibration. The design includes a heater to heat the blackbody during calibration and heat pipes to transfer residual heat to the radiator. The design features a temperature gradient on the blackbody surface of less than 1 K, ease of temperature sensor implementation, a stable thermal interface between the heat pipes and blackbody, and a fail-safe function under one heat pipe failure.