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US Increasing overall 2019 NASA Funding

The budget for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate is increasing by 11% in 2019, providing an additional $6.9 billion to current and upcoming projects. Missions to Jupiter’s moon Europa and a new lunar research initiative are among the beneficiaries, each analyzed by the American Institute of Physics.

Astronauts Assemble Tools to Test Space Tech

Technology helps push the development of future human missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. And in order for astronauts to journey farther and live longer, according to NASA, teams will need to store and transfer super-cold liquids used for fuel and life support systems in space.

New Study Reveals When a Superconductor Truly Becomes Super

Unraveling the mystery of superconductivity at high temperatures, specifically in copper oxide materials, remains one of the most puzzling challenges in modern solid-state physics. But new multinational research has confirmed the existence of a copper-oxide-based (or cuprate) phase transition at a temperature close to absolute zero (-273°C).

SPHEREx Mission Selected to Uncover Origins of the Universe

NASA's Astrophysics Explorers Program and associated divisions are moving ahead with a new space mission designed to help astronomers understand both how our universe evolved and how common the ingredients for life are in our galaxy’s planetary systems.

New Ceramic Material Can Better Withstand Extreme Temperatures

UCLA researchers and joint collaborators have created an extremely light and very durable ceramic aerogel, a new material that could be used for applications like insulating spacecraft due to its ability to withstand severe temperature changes encountered on space missions.

CERN Focused on Transforming LHCb and Upgrading ALICE

A period of maintenance and upgrade work is well underway at CERN, part of a technical break called Long Shutdown 2. Planned LS2 projects involve either upgrading or replacing sub-detectors at ALICE, while the Large Hadron Collider team is focused on increasing the proton–proton collision rate at LHCb by a...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Dewar

A dewar is a type of cryostat named after Sir James Dewar, the researcher who first developed the concept of a vacuum insulated container with silvered walls to reflect thermal radiation. Dewar was the first to liquefy hydrogen, and he created the device to store his discovery. The thermos bottle...

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon Cryocoolers

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers are two of the most commonly used cryocoolers in cryogenics. Both devices have a significant industrial base and operate at a wide range of temperatures and capacities. The thermodynamic cycles for both of these cryocoolers are quite similar. The Stirling cycle consists of a compressor,...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

A significant commercial application of cryogenics is the liquefaction, transport and storage of natural gas. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is generally 95 percent methane with a few percent ethane and much lower concentrations of propane and butane. LNG liquefies at 111.6 K. Unlike many applications of cryogenics, the motivation for...

Latest in Cryo Central

History of Cryogenics

From the Fall 1999 issue of Cold Facts magazine Millennium Breakthroughs A variety of CSA members give different perspectives on the past millennium: What were the most significant breakthroughs in cryogenics during the past millennium? Prof. R.G. Scurlock, Kryos Technology, scurlock@soton.ac.uk (“Breakthrough” = way through obstacles — Oxford English Dictionary)...

Cryobiology

Andreas Sputtek Past President Society for Cryobiology sputtek@uke.uni-hamburg.de or http://www.sputtek.de/. The word cryobiology (from the Greek words “cryo” = cold, “bios” = life, and “logos” = science) literally signifies the science of life at low temperatures. In practice, this field comprises the study of any biological material or system (e.g.,...

Cryogenic Insulation

James E. Fesmire Cryogenics Test Laboratory NASA Kennedy Space Center james.e.fesmire@nasa.gov Introduction In today’s world, the use of cryogenics and low-temperature refrigeration is taking a more and more significant role. From the food industry, transportation, energy, and medical applications to the Space Shuttle, cryogenic liquids must be stored, handled, and...

Cryogenic Treatment of Materials

F.J. Diekman Controlled Thermal Processing, Inc. info@metal-wear.com Cryogenic Processing (also called cryogenic treatment, and incorrectly “cryogenic tempering”) is a process that uses cryogenic temperatures to modify materials to enhance their performance. Cryogenic Processing involves the slow reduction in temperature of the material to at least -300°F (-185°C) and holding the...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Seeking alloy that keeps elastic property down to 10K

I am looking for a metal (alloy) that supports high temperatures (at least 1600K) and keeps its elastic property at low temperatures down to 10K. Rhenium is a good one because it does not become brittle. But it is quite expensive. Pure tungsten and molybdenum enter in the brittle regime...

Searching for a freezer that does not need electricity

I’m student of University of Barcelona. We do technical cryogenic research and we are searching for a cryogenic portable freezer that does not need electricity. We can’t find any company that offers something like this. The product we are looking for is the typical portable freezer for food or drinks...

FEP Encapsulated O rings in the cryogenic process

Can you please advise if FEP Encapsulated O rings are used within the cryogenic process and what materials? I have been asked by my company to write about FEP Encapsulated O rings for a training seminar.

Need material property data for polycrystalline / sintered ceramics

I am a ME grad student currently working on the design of a detector array / focal plate of a scientific space instrument operating at a temperature of about -80…-100°C. Although this is not in the cryogenic temperature range, I would like to address two questions to you as the...

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