Special Topics: LDCM and LDCM Components
The Cryocooler is like a big refrigerator, except that it cools to cryogenic temperatures (below −150°C, −238°F or 123K). It is responsible for cooling our detectors to 43K (-382F). This is very cold and the temperature at which we must maintain our detectors in order to get optimal thermal data. It was built by Ball Aerospace in Boulder, CO and will be the first of its kind to fly. It is a very complicated mechanical system that uses a compressor and displacer to provide its cooling.
Influencing Factors: Satellites Help Decipher the Fate of West Antartica
January 16, 2023
An international team of researchers has combined satellite imagery and climate and ocean records to obtain the most detailed understanding yet of how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – which contains enough ice to raise global sea level by 3.3 metres – is responding to climate change.
