Design of a radiator shade for testing in a simulated lunar environment

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) have chosen the parabolic/catenary concept from their sponsored Fall 1991 lunar radiation shade project for further testing and development. NASA asked the design team to build a shading device and support structure for testing in a vacuum chamber. Besides the support structure for the catenary shading device, the design team was asked to develop a system for varying the shade shape so that the device can be tested at different focal lengths. The design team developed concept variants and combined the concept variants to form overall designs. Using a decision matrix, an overall design was selected by the team from several overall design alternatives. Concept variants were developed for three primary functions. The three functions were structural support, shape adjustments, and end shielding. The shade adjustment function was divided into two sub-functions, arc length adjustment, and width adjustment.