Common Dewar
Lockheed Martin Space
The Common Dewar was an infrared sensor package that was designed to accommodate many different types and sizes of detectors, including visible, IR, and scanners. This would allow the company to have a fully analyzed, tested, and flown Dewar that could be utilized in most of the optical payloads. It would reduce the cost of designing and analyzing a new Dewar every new contract.
I was responsible for a few components and owned the top assembly that two other engineers contributed to. I conducted a trade study for the thermal strap, a metal connection between the back of the detector and the cryo-cooler. I designed the base flange to accommodate the multiple types of cryo-coolers for the various wattage of cooling needed for the detectors. I designed and ran optical analysis on the baffled cold shield to ensure no stray light would hit the detector.
This was one of the Dewar designs I was lead engineer. I gained a lot of experience managing the top assembly, running a trade study, and interfacing with vendors. Unfortunately, the funding ran out for the project and we were not able to see the product through to implementation.