NASA award for Thales Cryogenics

This week our colleague from Eindhoven Roel Arts was awarded a NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement medal. He received this special award in Los Angeles from the American space agency NASA. Thales Cyrogenics also received a NASA Group award. For Roel and the whole team in Eindhoven a great achievement!

Nomination for the ECOSTRESS project

In the ECOSTRESS project, Thales Cryogenics delivered cryogenic coolers for a scientific instrument mounted on the International Space Station looking into the water management of plants on the Earth – see https://ecostress.jpl.nasa.gov. The coolers we delivered are used to keep a small piece of electronics (an infrared detector) very cold – minus 208 degrees Celcius!

‘All expectations exceeded’

What’s special about the coolers delivered is that they were not specifically designed for use in space. Roel: ‘We delivered the equipment they need at a fraction of the cost and time normally needed for such equipment. We tried to approach the project as a partnership with Jet Propulsion Laboratory, part of NASA, with a joint goal, instead of treating JPL as just another customer. We have met and exceeded all the expectations by doing it this way. The coolers have operated perfectly on-orbit for over a year, and the mission has been extended by one year’.