SCARLET development, fabrication, and testing for the Deep Space 1 spacecraft

Abstract

An advanced version of "Solar Concentrator Arrays with Refractive Linear Element Technology" (SCARLET) is being assembled for use on the first NASNJPL New Millennium spacecraft: Deep Space 1 (DS1). The array is scaled up from the first SCARLET array that was built for the METEOR satellite in 1995 and incorporates advanced technologies such as dualjunction solar cells and an improved structural design. Due to the failure of the Conestoga launch vehicle, this will be the first flight of a modular concentrator array. SCARLET will provide 2.6 kW to the DSl spacecraft to be launched in July 1998 for a mission that includes fly-bys of the asteroid McAuliffe, Mars, and the comet West-Kohoutek-Ikemura. This paper describes the SCARLET design, fabricatiodassembly, and testing program for the flight system.

Solar power system options for the Radiation and Technology Demonstration Spacecraft

“…Options 6 and 7 use multi-junction GaInP2/GaAs/Ge solar cells operating under 7.5X solar illumination afforded by rigid refractive linear concentrators on deployable rigid panels or flexible refractive linear concentrators on mast-deployable flexible panels 23 . The former array type is successfully flying on the Deep Space 1 Mission spacecraft 24 . Options 8 and 9 employ a multi-gore array design that deploys circumferentially to form a quasi-circular, array geometry 25 .…”

Deep Space One: Preparing for space exploration in the 21st century

“…Each array is composed of four panels measuring approximately 160 cm wide by 113 cm long. Multijunction GaInP2/GaAs/Ge photovoltaic cell modules are intercon nected in series to produce 100 volts and about 2300 watts at the beginning of the mis sion, declining over the life of the mission as the arrays age and the spacecraft recedes from the Sun [Murphy and Allen, 1997]. The launch period for DS1 begins October 22.…”

Influence of the thermally induced deflection of a space micro-concentrator photovoltaic array on its optical performances using finite element method

“…4 x 5 meters). The first CPV powered mission Deep Space 1 launched in 1998 used the SCARLET panels that were about 1.6 x 1.1 meters large [2]. Micro-Concentrator PhotoVoltaic (micro-CPV) is a space tested technology that could decrease the cost of space solar generators and answer the increasing power demand.…”