GRETh’s Post

New developments in the MEESST project! ☄️Absolut System takes part in the MagnetoHydrodynamic Enhanced Entry Systems for Space Transportation project, which addresses the problems encountered when a spacecraft enters the atmosphere through a magnetohydrodynamics based solution: improve digital prediction capabilities, reduce thermal loads and resolve radio frequency communication problems.   ❄️ Our teams manufactured and supplied the cooling system, based on a cryogenic circulation loop, which cools the superconducting magnet at less than 30 K, generating a magnetic field capable of repelling the plasma.   Some key dates and successes in recent months: ➡️ October - November 2023: installation of the prototype at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI) in Belgium ➡️ November 2023 – February 2024: the MEESST team tested first the probe's ability to survive in a flow of plasma, while generating a magnetic field for the first time. It was a success. This stage represents an indication of the success of the cryocooling system developed by Absolut System. The first tests were carried out without and then with the magnet: measurement orientations, jet powers and thermal measurements. This period culminated in the radio communication tests to verify the ability of the system to mitigate the black-out phenomenon. Results to come soon. ➡️ March 2024: The probe has been transferred to the Space Systems Institute (IRS) to carry out thermal tests and study the reduction in heat flux on the probe offered by the magnetic field interacting with the plasma.   Our teams encountered excessive thermal resistance between the superconducting coil and the cooling plate, as well as higher than expected radiative losses on the magnet, which led to a lack of cooling power. The teams then added an additional radiative shield around the magnet to reduce the losses and improve the thermal continuity and reduced the thermal resistance between the magnet and the cooling plate by adding an interstitial material.   👉 To know more about the project: https://lnkd.in/g-z4xiWu 👉 The MEESST website: https://meesst.eu/   #project #innovation #expertise #space #cryogenics #cryo #plasma #MHD #MEESST #thermal #successes Matthieu Dalban Canassy