Lockheed Martin Corporation

Lockheed Martin Cdrporation

Jay H Ambrose

Rolland Holmes

John Ditri

Douglas Vernon McKinnon

Bronson Murray

Spencer Keith Connor

A panel assembly for use with a spacecraft includes a payload, a radiator panel and a heat pipe. The payload is configured to generate waste heat during operation. The radiator panel is spaced apart from the payload and is configured to dissipate waste heat. The heat pipe is coupled to the payload and the radiator panel. The heat pipe includes a compliant portion to permit the radiator panel to move relative to the payload. Further the heat pipe is configured to transfer waste heat from the payload to the radiator panel.

Heat transfer assemblies with compliant heat pipes

A heat pipe has an evaporator portion, a condenser portion, and at least one flexible portion that is sealingly coupled between the evaporator portion and the condenser portion. The flexible portion has a flexible tube and a flexible separator plate held in place within the flexible tube so as to divide the flexible tube into a gas-phase passage and a liquid-phase artery. The separator plate and flexible tube are configured such that the flexible portion is flexible in a plane that is perpendicular to the separator plate.

Heat pipe with axial wick

An autonomous spacecraft propellant-gauging system, the system including a propellant tank, one or more heating devices, at least one temperature sensor and a processor. The heating devices are used to heat up the propellant tank, and the temperature sensors sense the temperature of the propellant content of the propellant tank. The processor controls operations of the heating devices and the temperature sensor. The processor further executes an algorithm to automate gauging of the propellant content of the propellant tank based on a reduced order model (ROM) and a number of parameters, and reports out an estimate of the mass of the remaining propellant of the propellant tank.

Autonomous spacecraft propellant gauging

An electronics circuit card system includes a flexible elongated hollow receptacle; a working fluid disposed within the flexible elongated hollow receptacle; one or more wicking structures formed within an interior hollow region of the flexible elongated hollow receptacle, wherein the one or more wicking structures are configured to circulate the working fluid within the flexible elongated hollow receptacle and expand the flexible elongated hollow receptacle against an electronics circuit card; and a chassis configured to hold the flexible elongated hollow receptacle against the electronics circuit card.

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Saratoga, CA, United States of America

Jay H Ambrose