Development of miniature flight cryocooler electronics with advanced performance and reliability

In a companion paper in this session, the performance characteristics and Flight Qualification environmental test result for the Compact Cryocooler Control Electronics (C3E) are described. This paper describes a variant of the C3E, one optimized for slightly higher power applications and/or applications requiring additional mission assurance features. While applicable to essentially any Stirling or pulse tube cryocooler in the 50W and lower power class, this version of the C3E is being developed for and in collaboration with Northrop Grumman to provide flight electronics for the MicroCooler Pulse Tube Cryocooler (MicroCooler). This version has therefore been dubbed the "C3E-PT." The C3E-PT extends on the success of the C3E by increasing the power handling capability to above 50 WAC for bus voltages as low as 22 VDC to take better advantage of the available cooling power from the MicroCooler. In addition, features have been added to protect the cryocooler in the event of a C3E-PT or bus transient, say due to a single event upset (SEU). New capabilities include provision for a knock sensor and clock synchronization between multiple C3E-PTs. Details of these new features and progress in the development effort are discussed.