This paper discusses the solar sail design and outlines the interim accomplishments to advance the technology readiness level (TRL) of the subsystem from 3 toward a technology readiness level of 6 in 2005. Under Phase II of the program many component test articles have been fabricated and tested successfully. Most notably an unprecedented section of the conically deployed rigidizable sail support beam, the heart of the inflatable rigidizable structure, has been deployed and tested in the NASA Goddard thermal vacuum chamber with good results. The development testing validated the beam packaging and deployment. The inflatable conically deployed, Sub Tg rigidizable beam technology is now in the TRL 5-6 range. The fabricated masses and structural test results of our beam components have met predictions and no changes to the mass estimates or design assumptions have been identified adding great credibility to the design. Several quadrants of the Mylar sail have also been fabricated and successfully deployed validating our design, manufacturing, and deployment techniques.
Development and Ground Testing of a Compactly Stowed Scalable Inflatably Deployed Solar Sail
AIAA Gossamer Spacecraft Forum ; 2004 ; Palm Springs, CA, United States
2004-04-19
Conference paper
No indication
English
AIAA-2004-1507 Development and Ground Testing of a Compactly Stowed Inflatably Deployed Solar Sail
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