LARGE DEPLOYABLE TELESCOPES SUCH AS NASA'S 9.2M AND 16.8M SEGMENTED ATLAST SYSTEMS REQUIRE COMMENSURATELY L…

Public award description

LARGE DEPLOYABLE TELESCOPES SUCH AS NASA'S 9.2M AND 16.8M SEGMENTED ATLAST SYSTEMS REQUIRE COMMENSURATELY LARGE DEPLOYABLE SUNSHADES FOR THERMAL CONTROL AND TO PREVENT STRAY LIGHT FROM CONTAMINATING THE DESIRED SCIENCE IMAGES. EXISTING DEPLOYABLE STRUCTURES TECHNOLOGIES ARE TOO HEAVY AND EXPENSIVE TO PROVIDE ADVANCED OBSERVATION PLATFORMS WITH THE SUPPORTING SYSTEMS THEY REQUIRE TO FUNCTION PROPERLY. AEROSPACE AND BONDED STRUCTURES (ABS), INC. WILL TEAM WITH QINETIQ NORTH AMERICA (QNA) TO PROVIDE NASA WITH A VERSATILE, SELF-DEPLOYING OPTICAL BARREL ASSEMBLY (OBA) AND SHROUD THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO A WIDE RANGE OF TELESCOPE SCALES AND CONFIGURATIONS. THE HOODS SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A STRAIN ENERGY SELF-DEPLOYING COMPOSITE TRUSS STRUCTURE AND THE INSULATION AND LIGHT BAFFLE MATERIAL THAT PROTECTS THE SENSITIVE OPTICAL COMPONENTS. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL DEFINE AN OBA ARCHITECTURE COMPATIBLE WITH THE ATLAST OVERALL SYSTEM DEPLOYMENT AND OPERATIONAL APPROACH. THE ABS TEAM WILL BUILD A REPRESENTATIVE SECTION OF DEPLOYABLE TRUSS STRUCTURE AND TEST IT IN A LABORATORY ENVIRONMENT. THE TEST RESULTS WILL BE USED TO EXTRAPOLATE THE FULL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE. PHASE II WILL EXPAND ON THE PHASE I RESULTS TO DEVELOP A SCALED FULL SYSTEM HOODS SYSTEM PROTOTYPE.