REMOTELY DEPLOYABLE SELF-RIGIDIZING COMPOSITE SPACE STRUCTURES

MAJOR DESIGN AND COST FACTORS IN SPACE STRUCTURES ARE DEPLOYMENT AND DIMENSIONAL STABILITY. THESE ARE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR LARGE SPACE STRUCTURE ASSEMBLIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPACE STATION, SPACE PLATFORMS, LARGE DEPLOYABLE ANTENNAS, SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTORS, AND MANY OTHER APPLICATIONS. INNOVATIVE SPACE STRUCTURES THAT USE LIGHTWEIGHT NON-METALLIC, HIGH-STRENGTH,REVERSIBLE AND NON-REVERSIBLE POLYIMIDE COMPOSITE MATERIALS WILL BE EVALUATED TO DETERMINE THEIR FEASIBILITY FOR REMOTE DEPLOYMENT AND SELF-RIGIDIZATION. THE POLYIMIDES TO BE EVALUATED WERE DEVELOPED FOR ENHANCED RESISTANCE TO THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT. THE COMPOSITE MATERIALS FABRICATION PROCESS WILL BE REFINED; STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED INDIVIDUALLY AND IN A PROOF-OF-CONCEPTDEPLOYABLE STRUCTURE CONFIGURATION. THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEPLOYABLE SPACE STRUCTURES WITH SUPERIOR CHARACTERISTICS. MAJOR DESIGN AND COST FACTORS IN SPACE STRUCTURES ARE DEPLOYMENT AND DIMENSIONAL STABILITY. THESE ARE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR LARGE SPACE STRUCTURE ASSEMBLIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPACE STATION, SPACE PLATFORMS, LARGE DEPLOYABLE ANTENNAS, SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTORS, AND MANY OTHER APPLICATIONS. INNOVATIVE SPACE STRUCTURES THAT USE LIGHTWEIGHT NON-METALLIC, HIGH-STRENGTH,REVERSIBLE AND NON-REVERSIBLE POLYIMIDE COMPOSITE MATERIALS WILL BE EVALUATED TO DETERMINE THEIR FEASIBILITY FOR REMOTE DEPLOYMENT AND SELF-RIGIDIZATION. THE POLYIMIDES TO BE EVALUATED WERE DEVELOPED FOR ENHANCED RESISTANCE TO THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT. THE COMPOSITE MATERIALS FABRICATION PROCESS WILL BE REFINED; STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED INDIVIDUALLY AND IN A PROOF-OF-CONCEPTDEPLOYABLE STRUCTURE CONFIGURATION. THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEPLOYABLE SPACE STRUCTURES WITH SUPERIOR CHARACTERISTICS.