NGST Advanced Cryocooler Technology Development Program (ACTDP) Cooler System

The NGST ACTDP cooler system features a three-stage integral pulse tube cooler coupled, as a precooler, to a 6 K Joule-Thomson (JT) cooler. The system is configured to provide remote cooling (12 m) at 18 and 6 K. The cooler is being developed under contract to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with the objective of providing cooling for future NASA space observatory missions such as Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), Constellation X, and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The cooler development effort is to deliver an engineering model cooler with rack electronics that provide a flight-simulated interface.