Photograph by Russ Underwood
Lockheed Martin is producing solar arrays to provide continuous power for the International Space Station.
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space has begun rigorous testing of a portion of a football field-size mechanism that will turn sunlight into electricity to power the International Space Station.
Called the Solar Array E-Wing, the structure is a model that will be tested before production of the first actual flight hardware. The E-Wing assembly took place two months ago in the Lockheed Martin space station manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale.
"This E-Wing is a testing block for the [solar] arrays that will provide the power for the space station over its lifetime," said Bob Bombardier, manager of manufacturing and test operation.
The Solar Array E-Wing will go through numerous inspections and life-cycle tests in preparation for the final assembly and testing of the first flight unit in Sunnyvale this fall. The individual solar panel circuits will be flash-tested with simulated sunlight to verify their output power.
"The inspection process looks for mechanical defects and cracks in the solar cell filter covers," Bombardier said. "We have to make sure the integrity of each solar cell is intact. To a proton, a crack looks like the Grand Canyon, and because of the high proton density in low-Earth orbit, a defective cell can be badly damaged, and the power output of the arrays is degraded."
Solar cells are implanted into panels that form an accordion-like blanket that can be unfolded for use.
The deployed E-Wing blanket is 108 feet long and almost 20 feet wide. Each wing is made up of a mast assembly and two blankets. Each blanket has 84 panels, 82 of which have solar cells, Bombardier said.
"Each panel has 200 solar cells. The space station will contain eight flexible, deployable and retractable solar array wings," he added.
The eight photovoltaic arrays contain 262,400 silicons cells, each one 8 centimeters square. The cells produce about 1 watt of power each, for a theoretical maximum system-power output of 246 kilowatts at the beginning of the mission and 185 kilowatts after 15 years.
The first full solar-array wing will be launched aboard a NASA space shuttle and delivered to the space station in September 1998. Four shuttle flights through 2001 will complete delivery of the eight solar array wing assemblies.
Under a $450 million contract to the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International in Canoga Park, Lockheed Missiles & Space is designing, building and testing eight array wings, plus the one model wing for delivery to the Boeing Co. and NASA.
In addition to the solar arrays, Lockheed is providing other components critical to the International Space Station. The company has contracts totaling approximately $1 billion and more than 600 people working on the program.
Using technology developed for the International Space Station, Missiles & Space also produced solar array panels for the new Russian solar array installed on the Russian space station Mir May 30.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 14, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.