An analysis and procedure for determining space environmental sink temperatures with selected computational results

The heat transfer problem posed by the determination of spacecraft temperatures is analyzed and the theoretically derived relationships are included in a computational code. Subject code (TSCALC) is based theoretical analysis of thermal radiative equilibrium in space, particularly in the Solar System. Starting with the solar luminosity, the code takes in to account a number of key variables, namely: the spacecraft-to-Sun distance expressed in Astronomical Units (AU); the angle in degrees at which solar radiation is incident on a spacecraft surface, the temperature of which is to be determined; the absorptivity to emissivity ratio of the surface, (α/e)1 with respect to solar radiation; and the view factor of the surface to space. For spacecraft in planetary circular orbits at various altitudes above the planet surface, the code will also compute the spacecraft surface temperature rise due to albedo (reflected solar radiation from the planetary surface), direct (infrared) planetary surface radiation, charac...