Abstract
In order to study the film boiling phenomena in saturated superfluid helium (He IIs) under a microgravity environment, a very compact visualization system has been fabricated and tested at KEK. It consists of a cryostat, a vacuum pump, a high-speed video camera and electrical circuits for measurement. The cryostat in the system is equipped with optical windows for the visualization of film boiling in He IIs. The system was tested to verify the thermal and safety performances under a microgravity environment using a 10 m-drop tower at the Hokkaido Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Successful system operation from 1.94 to 2.05 K under microgravity conditions below 1 × 10-3 g was confirmed. The design and test results are described in this technical note.
