General Electric Company

United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Martin Marietta Corporation

Alexander Bogorad

Charles K Bowman, Jr

Martin G Meder

Leo J Amore

Roman Herschitz

Susan L Marr

Theodore A Harris, Jr

William Raymond Krummann

William Richard Hart

Robert N Harhigh

Frank A Dottore

Numerous undesirable prior art epoxy beads or pads of metallization, employed to prevent unacceptable electrostatic charge buildup upon the solar cell coverglasses of solar cell array panels deployed in outer space, are eliminated by causing the charge conducting semiconductive coverglass layers to be wrapped around edge portions of each coverglass, to readily facilitate charge drainage of the electrostatic charge buildup.

Spacecraft solar array design to control differential charging

An RF-transparent sunshield membrane covers an antenna reflector such as a parabolic dish. The membrane includes a single dielectric sheet of polyimide film 1 mil thick. The surface of the film facing away from the reflector is coated with a layer of semiconductor material such as vapor-deposited germanium having a thickness in the range of 200 .ANG. to 600 .ANG.. In another embodiment of the invention, the surface of the film facing the reflector may be reinforced by an adhesively attached polyester or glass fiber mesh.

Optimized RF-transparent antenna sunshield membrane

An RF-transparent sunshield membrane covers an antenna reflector such as a parabolic dish. The blanket includes a single dielectric sheet of polyimide film 1/2-mil thick. The surface of the film facing away from the reflector is coated with a transparent electrically conductive coating such as vapor-deposited indium-tin oxide. The surface of the film facing the reflector is reinforced by an adhesively attached polyester or glass mesh, which in turn is coated with a white paint. In a particular embodiment of the invention, polyurethane paint is used. In another embodiment of the invention, a layer of paint primer is applied to the mesh under a silicone paint, and the silicone paint is cured after application for several days at room temperature to enhance adhesion to the primer.

Antenna sunshield membrane

A method for welding together the broad faces of two conductive sheets increases the reliability and consistency from weld to weld. The sheets are accessible from only one side for parallel electrical resistance welding. The electrical resistance between one sheet and the other is measured and taken as an indication of the amount of dirt or corrosion in the interface between the sheets. The measured resistance is compared with a predetermined standard. If the resistance exceeds the standard, the faces are cleaned. If the resistance is below the standard, electrical power is applied to fuse the sheets together.

Preweld test method

Growing community of inventors

Plainsboro, NJ, United States of America

Alexander Bogorad