Design and performance analysis of the CLAES Ne/CO2 cryostat

The Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer (CLAES)1 is one of nine instruments that will fly aboard the Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS)2 in the fall of 1991. CLAES is an earth-limb viewing instrument that requires cryogenic cooling of its focal plane ( 2 cryostat would meet all sensor cooling requirements, provided that a significant increase in weight could be accommodated. In December '86, the Ne/CO2 design was adopted as the new cryostat baseline for CLAES. The focal plane and spectrometer are conductively cooled to the solid neon (13.2 K) while the telescope and internal baffles are cooled by the CO 2 (121.8K). This paper describes the design and performance of the Ne/CO2 cryostat.