Marlow has provided thermoelectric coolers (TECs) for the Hubble Space Telescope’s (HST) initial Wide Field Planetary Camera (WFPC 1) and all subsequent WFPC 2 and 3 upgrades. These coolers enable detectors to meet their specified performance parameters required to view the myriad of extraordinary pictures of stars, galaxies and other astronomical bodies and formations existing throughout our universe. Multiple custom, single-stage, and multi-stage TECs have been designed, developed, fabricated, space qualified and delivered over the lifetime of the Hubble.
The unparalleled imagery has fascinated the world since astronauts installed the corrective “Optical Fix” on the HST many years ago.
The TECs developed for each upgrade and HUBBLE refurbishment missions, accomplished during space shuttle missions to the HST, were all state-of-the-art coolers optimized by Marlow Industries for stringent cooling and environmental endurance conditions. As the operational performance complexity of HST evolved, the TEC design parameters had to keep pace.
