[sreinmann]

Long on my list of must haves, and joining my fleet of small body explorers (Hayabusa and Dawn), is Stardust. I snatched up a recolor of the original JPL design and built that over the winter, but I was disappointed in the lack of certain details.

I'm working now on correcting these discrepancies and will hopefully provide a very accurate and detailed example soon.

An issue I have come across in my design is a lack of details and references in the louver vent systems on the spacecraft. You'll note in the two line-drawings attached that there are two louver assemblies on the bus. This is part of the spacecraft's thermal control system and they open or close to the expose the craft's internal systems to space and thereby regulate the internal temperature.

Now the question, open or closed? I'm guessing they wouldn't be open much, so I'm thinking that I'll have an internal black-colored "box" that the vent would cover. And if the modeler chose, they could cut the slits and provide a slight bend to demonstrate the operation. But, how realistic is this? Do deep-space craft run with their vents open?

This is not a very "heroic" or "romantic" operation, so I get why there isn't much publicized. Have any of you run across an explanation or research? I wrote the specific question to JPL, Smithsonian, and others. But I haven't gotten a response.