NEW IR TECHNOLOGY USED DURING RADARSAT-2 THERMAL TESTING

摘要

RADARSAT-2 is a low earth orbit imaging satellite being integrated and tested by MDA. This paper describes the infra-red thermal balance and thermal vacuum test method used for RADARSAT-2. These tests were recently performed at the Canadian Space Agency's David Florida Laboratory (CSA-DFL) in Ottawa, Canada. New software and hardware developed by MDA, along with enhanced capabilities for data management and real-time data analysis implemented by CSA-DFL, provided for well orchestrated thermal balance and thermal vacuum tests. Recently developed software supplied accurate thermal flux level predictions which required little adjustment during test and newly designed heat flux sensors offered reliable heat flux measurements with remarkable repeatability. Post test analysis of the test data showed excellent correlation with the thermal math model.