Abstract
The AstroMesh is a large mesh reflector for space antenna systems that embodies a new concept for deployable space structures: a pair of ring-stiffened, geodesic truss domes, in which the ring is a truss deployed by a single cable. This structure’s two main components are a cable-actuated synchronized parallelogram mechanism that deploys the reflector which, when fully deployed, becomes a cylindrical Warren-type truss ring (statically determinate), and a pair of doubly-curved, filamentary geodesic trusses (“nets”) tensioned back-to-back across the ring truss and attached at its rims. The nets are stiff and statically determinate when deployed. The reflective mesh is stretched over the back of one net to precisely form it to the polygonal figure of the geodesic truss.
Two large development models have been qualified for space flight with initial shape errors of D(6 × 10−5) RMS1, and repeatability errors of less than D(5 × 10−6) RMS where D is the aperture diameter.
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References
All reflector surface RMS calculations performed using the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory half-path length (HPL) method.
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© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Thomson, M.W. (2000). The AstroMesh Deployable Reflector. In: Pellegrino, S., Guest, S.D. (eds) IUTAM-IASS Symposium on Deployable Structures: Theory and Applications. Solid Mechanics and Its Applications, vol 80. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9514-8_45
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9514-8_45
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