10K EM PULSE TUBE COOLER

A 3 stage Engineering Model pulse tube cooler was built and tested for low temperature operations. The staged cooler uses the same compressor and parallel staging configuration for the 1st and 2nd stages previously employed in the High Capacity Cryocooler Qualification (HCCQ). Addition of the third stage extends the performance of this cooler to operating temperatures below 10K. The EM cooler was fabricated and assembled to meet typical space dynamic and thermal performance requirements. The cooler performance at 10K has been characterized and test data are presented.