107 scientists, researchers and students attended CSA’s 28th Space Cryogenics Workshop held July 18 at the Heritage Hotel and Conference Center in Southbury CT.

Lake Shore Cryotronics, Inc. was the workshop’s Premier Partner with Lihan Cryogenics and CryoCoax as Silver and Bronze sponsors, respectively.

Over the two days, attendees had the opportunity to share ideas in the form of back-to-back oral presentations with poster session breaks. The first day began with lectures on upcoming missions that then proceeded into the physics of heat transfer and findings on cryocoolers. After a poster session featuring seven presenters explaining their research, the lectures returned with a focus on cryofluid systems. On day two, the group explored experimental cryogenics and modeling followed by examinations of cryogenic propulsion. The day was split by another round of posters and a second exploration of cryocoolers.

Adam Swanger, cryogenic research engineer at NASA Kennedy Space Center and co-chair of this year’s SCW, shared his thoughts on the event:

“The Space Cryogenics Workshop has always been a premier event for knowledge transfer, partnership building and support for innovation in the area of space-related cryogenic engineering, and the 28th edition once again lived up to that tradition. An increased interest in the event was obvious, judging by the number of abstracts submitted, as well as the quantity and diversity of the attendees. In line with the spirit of the cryogenics discipline as a whole, the workshop was a truly international event with a variety of countries represented. Participants were exposed to a wide range of topics over the two days, from recent advancements in space cryocooler technology, to current and future space-based observatories, to advanced insulation and heat management systems and future designs for vehicles to explore other worlds such as Titan and Triton.

“I left the event with a genuine sense that there is a renewed and increased global interest in the space enterprise in general, and the central role cryogenics has always played in that endeavor underpins the importance of the workshop. The recent success and proliferation of commercial space companies in the United States and the commitment of numerous countries to deep space and/or lunar exploration will undoubtedly create a huge potential for implementation of novel, game-changing solutions to space cryogenic challenges.

“I was honored to serve as the co-chair for the event, and found the three days to be both inspiring and empowering. It was great to see so many enthusiastic young professionals and students in attendance. It is a positive indication as to the health and importance of the discipline, and the continued relevance of the Space Cryogenics Workshop.”

An awards banquet was held on Thursday night. CSA presented awards for SCW 2017 paper submissions along with two student scholarships given for the second consecutive SCW. The co-chairs of this year’s SCW, Michael Meyer and Adam Swanger (photo 1), both of NASA, were honored for organizing the event. They saw this as “an opportunity to connect professionals and students from around the world.”

The T.H.K. Frederking Student Scholarships were presented to Jordan Raymond (Photo 2) of Washington State University’s HYPER lab and Hannah Rana (Photo 3) of University of Oxford cryogenics lab. “As a PhD student, I found it to be a fantastic opportunity to learn from all the key research and industrial groups currently furthering the field of space cryogenics. CSA and NASA did a great job of organizing the workshop talks and creating other opportunities for discussion amongst participants,” said Rana. “I had the opportunity to present my work, which sparked a lot of interesting discussion both during the session and thereafter. I was fortunate and delighted to be awarded the scholarship.”

The Best Technical Paper was “Validation of Storage Tank Self-Pressurization & Pressure Control CFD Models: Important Considerations Revealed in Crossing Fluid Types, Scales, and Gravity Levels” by M. Kassemi, O. Kartuzova and S. Hylton. Mohammad Kassemi accepted the award (Photo 4).

The Best Application Paper was “NASA Cryocooler Technology Developments and Goals to Achieve Zero Boiloff and to Liquefy Cryogenic Propellants for Space Exploration” by D. Plachta, J. Stephens, W. Johnson, M. Zagarola and D. Deserranno (Photo 5).