Sponsor: NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC)
Collaborators: David Miller (MIT)

A flexible means of cryogenic thermal control is necessary for containing and cooling high-temperature superconducting wire used for deployment and structural support of spacecraft.

Current running through coils of superconducting wire generate magnetic forces that would allow for spacecraft structures to unfold or expand.

A cryogenic heat pipe passively creates a vapor space from liquid nitrogen that is required for high-temperature superconducting wire to maintain its superconducting properties.

The heat pipe needs to be flexible to satisfy the range of deployment methods that will be explored.