Experimental investigation of a passive deployable/stowable radiator

A passive delployable/stowable radiator named reversible thermal panel (RTP) has been developed for thermal control of interplanetary spacecrafts. The RTP can autonomously adapt to a wide variety of thermal environments with no electrical power. An RTP prototype model (PM) was fabricated and extensive test programs including fin deployment/stowing tests, thermal performance tests, and vibration tests have been executed to validate that the RTP-PM can meet all the qualification requirements. Deployment/stowing tests have demonstrated repeatable RTP fins deploy/stow from 0u to 140u over the temperature range from –30uC to +30uC. Thermal performance tests including thermal balance tests and power cycling tests have shown RTP’s autonomous thermal control for changes in thermal conditions. The RTP has also been subjected to qualification-level vibration loads and passed with no significant issues.

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