Flight Demonstration of a 10 K Sorption Cryocooler

The Brilliant Eyes Ten-Kelvin Sorption Cryocooler Experiment (BETSCE), flown on STS-77 in May 1996, was the first-ever space flight of chemisorption cryocooler technology. BETSCE measured and validated critical microgravity performance characteristics of a hydride sorption cryocooler designed to cool long-wavelength infrared and submillimeter-wavelength detectors to 10 K and below. The technology flight validation data provided by BETSCE will enable early insertion of periodic and continuous-operation long-life, low-vibration, low-power consumption, sorption refrigeration technology into future earth-observation, surveillance, and astrophysics space missions.