NASA has awarded the cryogenics department at Thales, Eindhoven two recognitions at its 2019 Honors ceremony held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena the week of November 11. Both were awarded for Thales’ contribution to the success of the ongoing ECOSTRESS mission. The group received the NASA Group Achievement Award while the Exceptional Technology Achievement medal went to Roel Arts, Thales’ product line manager for linear cryocoolers, for his work as program manager on the ECOSTRESS project.

The ECOSTRESS project required Thales to deliver cryogenic coolers for the scientific instrument mounted on the International Space Station (ISS) that observes water management of plants on the Earth.

“I am proud to have been a part of the team at Thales Cryogenics that is now honored by our customer, no less than NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory!” said Arts.

The delivered coolers were not originally designed for use in space. Building on the knowledge and experience gained by producing quality cryocoolers for terrestrial use, Thales was able to deliver the coolers at a fraction of the cost and time normally needed for space-grade coolers. The coolers have operated perfectly in orbit for over a year and are still running flawlessly. As a result, NASA has extended the ECOSTRESS mission for one year.

Thales said it considers it an honor to have been awarded these prestigious NASA awards and is proud to have contributed to the success of the ECOSTRESS mission. They look forward to the opportunity to contribute further to the success of future NASA missions.