Thermal architecture for a cryogenic super-pressure balloon payload: design and development of the Taurus flight cryostat

• Main Authors: Tartakovsky, Simon, Adler, Alexandre E, Austermann, Jason E, Benton, Steven J, Bihary, Rick, Durking, Malcolm, Duff, Shannon M, Filippini, Jeffrey P, Fraisse, Aurelien A, Gascard, Thomas J. L. J, Gibbs, Sho M, Gourapura, Suren, Gudmundsson, Jon E, Hartley, John W, Hubmayr, Johannes, Jones, William C, Li, Steven, May, Jared L, Nagy, Johanna M, Okun, Kate, Padilla, Ivan L, Romualdez, L. Javier, Vissers, Michael R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 22-10-2024
• Subjects: Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors; Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2410.18150

SPIE 2024 Conference 13094, Paper 13094-112 We describe the cryogenic system being developed for Taurus: a super-pressure
balloon-borne microwave polarimeter scheduled to fly in 2027. The Taurus
cryogenic system consists of a 660L liquid helium cryostat which achieves a
base temperature of <100mK with the help of a capillary-fed superfluid tank and
a closed cycle dilution refrigerator. The main tank is supported with
fiberglass flexures and is encased in two layers of vapor-cooled shields which
allow Taurus to make full use of the extended flight time offered by the
super-pressure balloon platform. The Taurus cryostat is projected to hold for
over 50 days while weighing under 1000lbs. We present the design, testing, and
thermal analysis of the Taurus cryogenic systems.