The NASA Lewis Research Center continues to demonstrate its expertise
in the development and implementation of advanced space power
systems. For example, during the past year, the NASA New Millennium
Program selected the Solar Concentrator Array with Refractive
Linear Element Technology (SCARLET) photovoltaic array as the
power system for its Deep Space-1 (DS-1) mission. This Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) managed DS-1 mission, which represents the first
operational flight of a photovoltaic concentrator array, will
provide a baseline for the use of this technology in a variety
of future government and commercial applications.
SCARLET is a joint NASA Lewis/Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
program to develop advanced photovoltaic array technology that
uses a unique refractive concentrator design to focus sunlight
onto a line of photovoltaic cells located below the optical element.
The general concept is based on previous work conducted at Lewis
under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with
AEC-Able Engineering, Inc., for the Multiple Experiments to Earth
Orbit and Return (METEOR) spacecraft. The SCARLET II design selected
by the New Millennium Program is a direct adaptation of the smaller
SCARLET I array built for METEOR. Even though SCARLET I was lost
during a launch failure in October 1995, the hardware (designed,
built, and flight qualified within 6 months) provided invaluable
information and experience that led to the selection of this technology
as the primary power source for DS-1.
The SCARLET II design is a 2.6-kW array that uses advanced multijunction
photovoltaic cells and a variety of other improvements in the
lens design and array-deployment mechanisms. The array will be
used primarily to power the 2.5-kW electric propulsion thruster
that will propel the DS-1 spacecraft on this comet/asteroid rendezvous
mission. In addition to the first space flight demonstration of
photovoltaic concentrator technology, the SCARLET II program will
also help quantify the advantages of this technology for future
applications: high array efficiency at low cost, inherent resistance
to radiation degradation, and minimal space plasma interaction.
SCARLET II completed its critical design review in July 1996,
and flight hardware fabrication is now underway. Delivery of the
array is scheduled for August 1997, with a launch in July 1998.
Whereas NASA Lewis managed the initial part of the SCARLET II
program, flight hardware construction is now managed under a contract
by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, the primary funding
organization. NASA Lewis continues to play a vital role not only
in continued support of the SCARLET II/DS-1 mission, but in developing
performance improvements and evaluating additional mission applications
for advanced photovoltaic concentrator technology.
Previous articleLast updated April 30, 1997
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