{"id":96,"date":"2026-09-16T11:29:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T10:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/physical-sciences\/?page_id=96"},"modified":"2026-09-16T14:45:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T13:45:03","slug":"baldrick-large-clean-circular-chamber","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schools.stem.open.ac.uk\/physical-sciences\/research\/facilities\/hvi-spe-laboratories\/baldrick-large-clean-circular-chamber\/","title":{"rendered":"Baldrick – Large Clean Circular Chamber"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Large Clean Circular Chamber \u201cBaldrick\u201d provides a \u2018clean\u2019 flat-bottomed testbed for astrobiological exposure experiments to extreme environments, such as variable vacuum pressure, temperature and UV simulated environments. The chamber was purchased for the International Bilateral Fund: COSPAR PPP project<\/a> awarded to AstrobiologyOU in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Baldrick is a clean circular chamber with a flat base. It is 60 cm in diameter and 20 cm tall. It benefits from a large spring-loaded top lid opening the full diameter of the chamber. The top lid hosts various portholes, ideal for UV illumination, including 4 small (CF63 68 mm), and one large (CF200 197 mm). The chamber wall is equipped with five KF50 ports for various feedthroughs. It can operate at pressures down to 10-5<\/sup> mbar, at temperatures between -100 \u00b0C and +200 \u00b0C. The chamber has a rolling frame to align three deuterium UV light sources over three of the four top CF63 VPZL-450Q viewports. Cryogenic feedthroughs allow for the circulation of liquid nitrogen through a large 400 mm diameter Copper cold plate, and electronic feedthroughs allow for multiple thermocouples.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Mirandah<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mirandah Ackley (Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin PhD student) with her frozen samples to expose to UV, low temperature and low pressure within the Baldrick chamber
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Specification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Diameter<\/td>0.6 m<\/td><\/tr>
Height<\/td>0.2 m<\/td><\/tr>
Pressure<\/td>10-5<\/sup> mbar – 1000 mbar<\/td><\/tr>
Temperature<\/td>-100\u00b0C – +200\u00b0C<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Large Clean Circular Chamber \u201cBaldrick\u201d has:<\/p>\n\n\n\n