EUROPEAN TECHNOLOGY EXPOSURE FACILITY-THERMOMETER (EUTEF-EUTEMP)
Research Area: Thermal Management Systems
Expedition(s): 16- 20
Principal Investigator(s): ● J. A. Romera, European Space Agency, Noordwijk,
Netherlands
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
European Technology Exposure Facility-Thermometer (EuTEMP) is an autonomous, battery-
powered, multi-input thermometer that is used to measure temperatures on the European
Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) during the unpowered transfer from the Shuttle Cargo Bay
to the Columbus External Payload Facility to which EuTEF was attached for 18 months. Some of
the EuTEF instruments could be sensitive to temperature variations, and ESA wants to
determine what temperatures would be experienced during the transfer phase.
RESULTS
EuTEMP started recording temperature data 8 hours after activation of the 28V Stay Alive
Feeders, which occurred on February 7, 2008. This was just under 80 minutes after launch of
STS-122 Space Shuttle Atlantis. Once in orbit, the shuttle’s cargo bay doors were opened to
allow exposure of the shuttle’s environmental control and life support system radiators for heat
rejection of the orbiter's systems. Temperatures then decreased while in the usual cargo bay
facing Earth, which is a standard attitude for the shuttle and also showed a decrease whenever
Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) alignment maneuvers were made that pointed the bay to
space. The temperatures also decreased during rendezvous and docking with the International
Space Station (ISS).
Following docking, the temperatures measured by EuTemp started rising after the Columbus
laboratory was removed from the shuttle cargo bay (after 20.00 GMT) on February 10 for
installation on the ISS. Two negative peaks followed on February 13 due to spacewalk activities
to install a new Nitrogen Tank Assembly. The first peak was due to deactivation of the 28V Stay
Alive Feeders between 15.26 and 16.36 GMT to remove the new Nitrogen Tank Assembly (NTA)
from the cargo carrier in the shuttle’s cargo bay (to which EuTEF and the Solar facility were also
installed). The second peak was due to deactivation of the 28V feeders between 18.36 and
20.02 GMT to install an old Nitrogen Tank Assembly back onto the cargo carrier in the shuttle’s
cargo bay. A similar small peak was experienced on February 15 due to removal of the solar
facility from the cargo carrier (feeders deactivated from 14:40-14:55 GMT).
The most significant drop was seen on February 15 after 16:56 GMT (when the feeders were
again deactivated) due to the transfer of the EuTEF facility (with EuTemp) from the cargo bay to
the Columbus External Facility. Following its installation, the temperatures started stabilization
after 20:03 on February 16 after activation of the 120V feeders on the external Payload Facility.
This investigation is complete; however no publications are expected.