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“Gas stations” in Zero Gravity

To journey and return from other planets, future spacecraft may have to do something they’ve never done before: refuel in space. Thanks to a Purdue University experiment, scientists are now beginning to understand how cryogenic liquids behave in zero-gravity, and how this affects the future operation of propellant depots in...

Journey of the Maglev

In early January 2022, a prototype mag- lev train was rolled out in southwest China’s city of Chengdu, one of the latest developments in magnetic levitation trains. The domestically developed locomotive uses high temperature superconducting and will travel with a designed speed of 620 km/h, according to Southwest Jiaotong University,...

The GigaSphere: Game Changer for Next Generation of Clean Energy

Large spheres have been used to store liquid hydrogen for decades. In fact, two 3,218 cubic meter (850,000 gallon) liquid hydrogen storage spheres have supported space flight pro- grams at the Kennedy Space Center since the mid-1960s. Currently, NASA plans to use the latest and largest liquid hydro- gen tank ever...

Eta Space Develops Cryogenic Propellant Depots for Earth and Space

Eta Space, a new space company dedicated to developing advanced cryogenic systems for the modern space and energy age, is celebrating its three-year anniversary in June with milestones scheduled for several key projects. Eta Space is developing LOXSAT, a 135 kg demonstration satellite designed to test critical cryogenic fluid management (CFM) technologies...

Penflex Controls Pressure at the Intersection of Vacuum and Cryogenic Sciences

Vacuum technologies have advanced the field of cryogenics, allowing researchers to push the frontiers of what we know and businesses to apply that knowledge and drive innovation across a wide range of industries. The intersection of vacuum and cryogenic sciences is a demanding one. Pressure and temperature requirements create a...

Space Cryogenics: The ECOSTRESS Instrument After Four Years in Space

The instrument is approaching four years of operation in space, with its over- all thermal performance as predicted and no changes to cryocooler performance. To date, all three cryocoolers have accumulated over 32,000 operating hours. On the 210th day after the initial power-on, a fault condition was detected, and the...

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

Cryogenic Electronics

Randall Kirschman, consulting physicist, Mountain View, California ExtElect@gmail.com Cryogenic electronics—the operation of electronic devices, circuits, and systems at cryogenic temperatures—has been a valuable technology for decades. Cryogenic electronics (also referred to as low-temperature electronics, or cold electronics) can be based on semiconductive devices, on superconductive devices, or on a combination...

Particle Physics: High Energy Physics

Cryogenics and High-Energy Physics 1. From symmetry magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000627: Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at temperatures near absolute zero. In high-energy particle accelerators, such frigid temperatures reduce the electrical resistance of wires in superconducting magnets, increasing the magnet strength and allowing faster particle acceleration. The same holds...

HTS Degaussing Systems

From the Spring 2009 issue of Cold Facts (Volume 25, Number 2): Thanks to a joint project by the US Navy and a number of industry partners, high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology is now at the heart of an advanced degaussing system aboard the USS Higgins at the naval station...

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

From http://www.superconductors.org: An area where superconductors can perform a life-saving function is in the field of biomagnetism. Doctors need a non-invasive means of determining what’s going on inside the human body. By impinging a strong superconductor-derived magnetic field into the body, hydrogen atoms that exist in the body’s water and...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Southern California companies doing cryogenic hardening of engine parts?

Do you have any information on where to find companies in Southern California that do cryogenic hardening of engine parts?

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