Aeronautics and astronautics – Spacecraft – With payload accommodation
Patent
1993-02-08
1995-03-28
Huppert, Michael S.
Aeronautics and astronautics
Spacecraft
With payload accommodation
244158R, 136243, 136244, B64G 144
Patent
active
054009863
ABSTRACT:
A thermal control surface for a spacecraft includes flexible OSR tiles (310) 0.0015 inches thick. Each tile includes a transparent substrate (312) with a reflective second surface (314), such as a coating of silver. The front or space-facing side is coated with a transparent, electrically conductive layer (316) of indium oxide (IO) or indium-tin oxide (ITO), which laps over the edges of the OSR tile, and is in electrical contact with the reflective coating.
The IO or ITO coating, or a separate electrically conductive coating (610) such as nichrome, forms a protective coating for the reflective surface, and maintains contact with the front surface of the tile. The IO or ITO layer (316) in conjunction with the back side coating provides front-to-back electrical conduction. The OSR is mounted to an electrically conductive surface (110) of the spacecraft, such as an aluminum or graphite-fiber-reinforced epoxy resin, by a sheet of transfer adhesive (410). In one embodiment of the invention, the transfer adhesive is electrically conductive, thereby providing an electrostatic discharge path from the outer surface of each OSR to the spacecraft ground. The size of the OSR tile is maximized relative to the inter-tile spacing, to achieve the greatest ratio of reflective-to nonreflective surface.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3346419 (1967-10-01), Webb
patent: 4043834 (1977-08-01), Rusch
patent: 4232070 (1980-11-01), Inouye et al.
patent: 4888061 (1989-12-01), Wenz
patent: 4898347 (1990-02-01), Bianchi
"Microsheet Glass in Solar Concentrators," published in NASA Tech Briefs, Feb., 1993, by Lewis Research Center.
Amore Leo J.
Saylor William P.
Berard C. A.
Bidwell Anne E.
Huppert Michael S.
Martin Marietta Corporation
Meise W. H.
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