Thermal management system and method for space and air-borne sensors

1. An apparatus comprising:

an optical sensor comprising one or more thermally sensitive components, the optical sensor configured to be mounted to a space or air-borne vehicle via a gimbal, the optical sensor including a heat sink component thermally coupled to the one or more thermally sensitive components via at least one heat strap, the heat sink component configured to passively receive and store thermal energy from the one or more thermally sensitive components through the at least one heat strap without use of a motorized thermal energy transfer device; and

a radiator configured to dissipate the thermal energy to an ambient environment, the radiator disposed on a first side of an optical path of the optical sensor opposite a second side of the optical path on which the heat sink component is disposed such that the heat sink component at least partially balances a center-of-gravity of the optical sensor with respect to the gimbal;

wherein the heat sink component is thermally coupled between the radiator and the one or more thermally sensitive components, and wherein the radiator is configured to receive the thermal energy from the heat sink component.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a one-way heat transfer device thermally coupled between the heat sink component and the radiator, the one-way heat transfer device configured to:

allow a movement of the thermal energy in a first direction from the heat sink component to the radiator, and

limit a movement of the thermal energy in a second direction from the radiator to the heat sink component.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the one-way heat transfer device comprises at least one of (i) a thermal switch or (ii) a heat pipe having a wick that is configured to move multi-phase refrigerant in liquid form.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the radiator comprises a cryoradiator.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor comprises an infrared device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the radiator has a front surface configured to radiate the thermal energy, and wherein the apparatus is configured to:

orient the optical sensor such that the front surface of the radiator points away from one or more warm bodies to cool the heat sink component; and

orient the optical sensor such that the optical sensor points toward an object of interest to acquire information about the object, the heat sink component configured to cool the one or more thermally sensitive components while the sensor is pointed at the object of interest.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying a computer program, the computer program comprising computer readable program code for:

orienting a front surface of a radiator to point away from one or more warm bodies to dissipate thermal energy from a heat sink component of an optical sensor, the heat sink component thermally coupled to one or more thermally sensitive components of the optical sensor via at least one heat strap, the optical sensor being mounted to a space or air-borne vehicle via a gimbal, the radiator disposed on a first side of an optical path of the optical sensor opposite a second side of the optical path on which the heat sink component is disposed such that the heat sink component at least partially balances a center-of-gravity of the optical sensor with respect to the gimbal; and

orienting the optical sensor toward an object of interest to acquire information about the object, wherein the heat sink component is configured to passively receive the thermal energy from the one or more thermally sensitive components through the at least one heat strap without use of a motorized thermal energy transfer device while the optical sensor is oriented toward the object of interest.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the optical sensor comprises a one-way heat transfer device thermally coupled between the heat sink component and the radiator.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the one-way heat transfer device comprises at least one of (i) a thermal switch or (ii) a heat pipe having a wick that is configured to move multi-phase refrigerant in liquid form.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the radiator comprises a cryoradiator.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the optical sensor comprises an infrared device.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the heat sink component comprises a phase change material.

13. A thermal management system comprising:

an optical sensor configured to be mounted to a space or air-borne vehicle via a gimbal, the optical sensor comprising a heat sink component configured to passively receive and store thermal energy from one or more thermally sensitive components through at least one heat strap without use of a motorized thermal energy transfer device, the at least one heat strap thermally coupling the heat sink component to the one or more thermally sensitive components, the optical sensor comprising the one or more thermally sensitive components;

a radiator configured to dissipate the thermal energy to an ambient environment, the radiator disposed on a first side of an optical path of the optical sensor opposite a second side of the optical path on which the heat sink component is disposed such that the heat sink component at least partially balances a center-of-gravity of the optical sensor with respect to the gimbal; and

a controller configured to:

orient a front surface of the radiator away from one or more warm bodies to cool the heat sink component, the radiator configured to dissipate the thermal energy; and

orient the optical sensor toward an object of interest to acquire information about the object, the heat sink component configured to cool the one or more thermally sensitive components while the optical sensor is oriented at the object of interest.

14. The thermal management system of claim 13 , wherein the heat sink component comprises a phase change material.

15. The thermal management system of claim 13 , further comprising a one-way heat transfer device thermally coupled between the heat sink component and the radiator, the one-way heat transfer device configured to:

allow a movement of the thermal energy in a first direction from the heat sink component to the radiator, and

limit a movement of the thermal energy in a second direction from the radiator to the heat sink component.

16. The thermal management system of claim 15 , wherein the one-way heat transfer device comprises at least one of (i) a thermal switch or (ii) a heat pipe having a wick that is configured to move multi-phase refrigerant in liquid form.

17. The thermal management system of claim 13 , wherein the radiator comprises a cryoradiator.

18. The thermal management system of claim 13 , wherein the optical sensor comprises an infrared device.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heat sink component uses no power source to passively receive the thermal energy from the one or more thermally sensitive components.

20. The thermal management system of claim 13 , wherein the heat sink component uses no power source to passively receive the thermal energy from the one or more thermally sensitive components.