Heat Transfer and Spacecraft Thermal Control

Many requirements must be satisfied in order to achieve a successful spacecraft mission. One very pervasive requirement is that every spacecraft component must be maintained within either operating or survival temperature limits at all times. This is a very difficult requirement to satisfy because of the many boundary conditions.

Representative examples of the type of heat transfer and advanced thermophysical work that is currently being done in response to space mission needs are contained in this volume, such as: discussion on the recent past, status, and future directions of thermophysics, aspects of the critically important area of thermal and visible radiation properties of solid/vacuum interfaces, thermal conductance across joints, thermal conductance concepts to ball bearings, heat transfer analysis, the rapidly developing area of multilayer or "super" insulation, and thermal control devices.