Mercury/Gemini question

On Apollo, the spacecraft's temperature was controlled via the radiators
on the SM...how was this handled on Mercury and Gemini? I don't see any
obvious radiators on the exterior of either spacecraft.

Pat

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/count.../mc_years3.htm
This picture shows what I've always considered to be the instrument
adaptor and retro section of the Gemini. Captions state this is the
radiator section. Looking at this makes me think that perhaps the
radiator was located under the skin of the instrument adaptor. Nnever
really knew what function those black marks performed!(?) I thought
the Gem radiators were the samller striated squares found up and around
the thruster panels.......Doc

On Dec 9, 3:20 am, Pat Flannery wrote:
On Apollo, the spacecraft's temperature was controlled via the radiators
on the SM...how was this handled on Mercury and Gemini? I don't see any
obvious radiators on the exterior of either spacecraft.

Pat

In article ,
Pat Flannery wrote:
On Apollo, the spacecraft's temperature was controlled via the radiators
on the SM...how was this handled on Mercury and Gemini? I don't see any
obvious radiators on the exterior of either spacecraft.

Don't remember for Mercury -- it might have used expendable coolant.
The Gemini radiator was the outer skin of the adapter section.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

In orbit, the insulation becomes an almost perfect heat barrier and
dictates that the cabin cooling be primarily accomplished by the cabin
heat exchanger.10......This from This New Ocean, ..........Doc


On Dec 9, 5:09 am, (Henry Spencer) wrote:
In article ,
Pat Flannery wrote:

On Apollo, the spacecraft's temperature was controlled via the radiators
on the SM...how was this handled on Mercury and Gemini? I don't see any
obvious radiators on the exterior of either spacecraft.Don't remember for Mercury -- it might have used expendable coolant.
The Gemini radiator was the outer skin of the adapter section.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

Pat Flannery wrote:
On Apollo, the spacecraft's temperature was controlled via the radiators
on the SM...how was this handled on Mercury and Gemini? I don't see any
obvious radiators on the exterior of either spacecraft.

Mercury's ECS used evaporative cooling. Steam was ejected through a
small vent. This approach was considered acceptable for a spacecraft
with an working lifetime measured in hours.

As you know, the Apollo CSM and Gemini used radiative cooling in order
to be compatible with mission durations measured in days. However, the
Apollo LM didn't use radiative cooling. It used an ice sublimator to
reject heat.

--
Dave Michelson

In article .com,
wrote:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/count.../mc_years3.htm
This picture shows what I've always considered to be the instrument
adaptor and retro section of the Gemini. Captions state this is the
radiator section. Looking at this makes me think that perhaps the
radiator was located under the skin of the instrument adaptor. Nnever
really knew what function those black marks performed!(?)

I think the black bars are not actually part of the adapter, but a cage
around it, part of the test rig. (Probably heating rods.) The Gemini
radiator was the outer skin of the adapter. There was a network of
coolant pipes on the inner surface.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

On Sat, 9 Dec 2006 13:09:52 GMT, (Henry Spencer)
wrote:

Don't remember for Mercury -- it might have used expendable coolant.

....From what I recall, it was a dual cooling system - cabin gas to
assist in keeping the pilot cool, and a water boiler for the
spacecraft itself. I've been looking for the document that I'd read
online years ago to back this up, but I've had AbZero luck finding it.
Which means I can't claim an "I Knew Something Henry Didn't!" Mortar
Board & Tassle, but I can claim I came close :-)

....On a side note, while looking for sources to back up my
recollections, I came across this one of interest:

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/586/1

....Can't recall this being discussed here before, but considering it's
by D-Day - who still thinks his **** smells too good to grace our
presence with it these days - I'm not surprised.

OM
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wrote:

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/count.../mc_years3.htm
This picture shows what I've always considered to be the instrument
adaptor and retro section of the Gemini. Captions state this is the
radiator section. Looking at this makes me think that perhaps the
radiator was located under the skin of the instrument adaptor. Nnever
really knew what function those black marks performed!(?) I thought
the Gem radiators were the samller striated squares found up and around
the thruster panels.......Doc


If it's all a radiator, then that's one big radiator! :-D
I've got the Revell 1/24th scale Gemini model and thought those squares
you mentioned were about the only things that looked like a possible
radiator, but they look awfully small in comparison to Apollo's.

Pat

Henry Spencer wrote:

In article ,
Pat Flannery wrote:


On Apollo, the spacecraft's temperature was controlled via the radiators
on the SM...how was this handled on Mercury and Gemini? I don't see any
obvious radiators on the exterior of either spacecraft.



Don't remember for Mercury -- it might have used expendable coolant.
The Gemini radiator was the outer skin of the adapter section.



They ran glycol plumbing through that whole thing?!

Pat

I wrote:
Don't remember for Mercury -- it might have used expendable coolant.

Yep -- both the suit air loop and the cabin air loop were cooled by heat
exchangers, in turn cooled by water (from a coolant tank) evaporating
into vacuum.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |