In space, a spacecraft can experience extreme hot and cold temperatures based on its distance from the sun and orbit around a planet. As a result, spacecraft incorporate a control system to maintain hardware within an allowable temperature range so they don’t become damaged. While thermal control systems are essential for spacecraft, modeling and designing these is not an easy or straightforward task.

In today’s episode I got to chat with JPL thermal engineer Belinda Shreckengost on several topics that go into thermal engineering, including: how thermal models and thermal control systems are developed, as well as how engineers prepare for thermal vacuum testing.

For References for Belinda’s JPL missions, check out the following websites:

https://mars.nasa.gov/

https://www.nasa.gov/missions