LDEF (Prelaunch), AO178 : A High-Resolution Study of Ultra-heavy Cosmic-Ray Nuclei, Tray D07

LDEF (Prelaunch), AO178 : A High-Resolution Study of Ultra-heavy Cosmic-Ray Nuclei, Tray D07 EL-1994-00686 LDEF (Prelaunch), AO178 : A High-Resolution Study of Ultra-heavy Cosmic-Ray Nuclei, Tray D07 The prelaunch photograph of the Ultra Heavy Cosmic Ray Experiment (UHCRE) was taken in SAEF II at KSC prior to installation of the experiment tray on the LDEF. The UHCRE detectors were contained in 16 peripheral LDEF trays with at least one UHCRE tray located on each row of the LDEF except row 3, row 9 and row 12. Each tray contains three cylindrical aluminum pressure vessels with an integral aluminum support structure. Each cylinder is filled with an Eccofoam insert that houses 4 UHCRE detector stacks. Each consisting of layers of Lexan polycarbonate sheets (approximately 70) interleaved with several thin sheets of lead. Forty-seven of the 48 pressure vessels were pressurized to 1.0 bar of a dry gas mixture (oxygen, nitrogen and helium) and sealed. One of the units was left unsealed in order to investigate the effects of the vacuum environment on the detector materials. Thermal control was accomplished by attaching an aluminized Kapton thermal cover on the tray bottom (the Kapton facing the LDEF interior), placing the aluminum cylinder support structure on thermal isolators and covering the experiment with a thin (5 mil) silvered TEFLON_ thermal cover. The silvered TEFLON_ cover was supported by an aluminum frame, an integral part of the experiment structure, and held in place by Velcro pads selectively located on the frame and on the back of the cover. The copper colored strip extending over the trays lower flange is a copper coated pressure sensitive tape used to provide an electrical ground between the thermal cover and the LDEF structure.
NASA Identifier: NIX-EL-1994-00686