Conformal AppliquT for Thermal Control in Space

This Phase II SBIR will develop a new and novel device to control the radiated energy from a spacecraft. It is based on an existing device, an electrostatic switched radiator (ESR), which has already demonstrated large changes in radiated energy asmeasured in space-like conditions. The device works by switching the heat transfer mode from conduction to radiation and has demonstrated changes in emissivity over .7.This proposal will take the existing ESR and fabricate it as an appliqu¿ with higher performance then competing technologies. This appliqu¿ will replace the rigid substrate of the existing ESR with a self-contained conformal system which can be applied tothe spacecraft with an adhesive, allowing fabrication and testing prior to assembly on the spacecraft.The phase I program showed, by analytical modeling, that the proposed structure is capable of high performance and also developed a process suitable for fabricating the appliqu¿s.The appliqu¿ to be developed during the phase II, will be a lightweight coating less than .004