HIRDLS Instrument Flight Cryocooler Subsystem Integration and Acceptance Testing

Ball Aerospace has been performing integration and acceptance of its flight Stirling-cycle mechanical cryocooler for the High Resolution Dynamic Limb Sounder (HIRDLS), an instrument slated to fly on the Earth Observing System Chemistry Platform. The HIRDLS cooler subsystem (CSS), developed under subcontract for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Observing System Program, consists of a sophisticated and highly reliable, single-stage, fixed regenerator, Stirling cryocooler and its drive electronics, interfacing hardware, cryocooler support bracketry, and the cryocooler radiator.