Experimental study on surface temperature distribution of space cryogenic shield

The space cryogenic shield is a device of phase-change refrigeration used to wrap the high-speed spacecraft up, which aims at improving penetration of near-earth high-speed spacecraft, and preventing being discovered and intercepted by infrared detector in near-earth orbit. In order to realize the effect of infrared stealth of ballistic missiles in the midcourse flight, a prototype of cryogenic shield was developed by adopting the phase-changed refrigeration of the cryogenic refrigerant. An experimental study on the surface temperature distribution and weight change of the prototype was carried out, and an empirical model was presented to make quantitative analysis. The result indicates that the prototype of space cryogenic shield may lower the surface temperature of ballistic missiles to less than 100 K, and reduce the infrared radiation of the surface to 0.15 W/m2 in 30 minutes. This cryogenic shield can meet the requirements of cryogenic infrared radiation in the space.