Thermal Conductivity of Multilayer Insulation in the Martian Atmosphere

Abstract

The experimental results of measurements of the thermal conductivity of standard multilayer insulation (MLI) in vacuum and under conditions simulating the Martian atmosphere are presented. These measurements have shown that the thermal conductivity becomes approximately one third higher when the insulation moves from vacuum into the Martian atmosphere. The obtained results make it possible to correctly determine the heating power of MLI-coated instruments on the Martian surface and, thus, to use the standard MLI during both the flight period and operations on Mars’s surface. The MLI-coated ISEM instrument, which was a part of the Pasteur payload of the cancelled ExoMars-2022 mission, was used as an object of the experiment.