A 3He sorption cooler produced the operational temperature of 285mK for the
bolometer arrays of the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS)
instrument of the Herschel Space Observatory. This cooler provided a stable
hold time between 60 and 73h, depending on the operational conditions of the
instrument. The respective hold time could be determined by a simple functional
relation established early on in the mission and reliably applied by the
scientific mission planning for the entire mission. After exhaustion of the
liquid 3He due to the heat input by the detector arrays, the cooler was
recycled for the next operational period following a well established automatic
procedure. We give an overview of the cooler operations and performance over
the entire mission and distinguishing in-between the start conditions for the
cooler recycling and the two main modes of PACS photometer operations. As a
spin-off, the cooler recycling temperature effects on the Herschel cryostat 4He
bath were utilized as an alternative method to dedicated Direct Liquid Helium
Content Measurements in determining the lifetime of the liquid Helium coolant.Comment: 34 pages, 13 figures, accepted in Experimental Astronom
