Photovoltaic array environmental protection programDuring the photovoltaic array environmental protection program, a coating material, application technique, and design approach intended to protect flexible solar array blankets during a nominal fifteen-year operating lifetime were developed. Numerous thin-film coatings for protecting the Kapton polyimide material used in the construction of the Space Station Freedom flexible solar array blanket were evaluated. The critical solar array design features and protection measures are discussed with special emphasis on the effects of solar array fabrication and flexible printed circuit manufacturing processes on coating durability. The results of the mechanical and environmental test evaluation, including oxygen plasma, neutral oxygen beam, and UV/charged-particle combined exposure, are discussed. These results led to the selection of a silicon dioxide thin-film coating to protect the solar array blanket from the low-earth-orbit atomic oxygen environment.
Document ID
19900051033
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Bilger, Kevin M. (Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. Sunnyvale, CA, United States)
Gjerde, Helen B. (Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., Inc. Sunnyvale, CA, United States)
Sater, Bernard L. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)