TABLE OF CONTENTS Aleksandra M. Vinogradov [*] and Christopher H. M. Jenkins [ ]
Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana
Ji Su [ ]
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
Yoseph Bar-Cohen [ ]
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, California
and
Eric L. Pollard [**]
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota
Copyright 2005 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.
[*]Professor.
[ ]Professor and Head.
[ ]Research Engineer.
[ ]Senior Research Scientist and Group Supervisor.
[**]Research Assistant.
Precision gossamer apertures (PGA) are thin membrane structures comprised of highly flexible plate or shell elements. They present a promising alternative to certain conventional spacecraft, offering many benefits compared with their rigid counterparts. The most obvious advantages of gossamer spacecraft are substantial weight reduction and cost-effectiveness. In addition, gossamer spacecraft can be deployed in small volume packages, and can be easily fabricated in a variety of shapes and sizes, from the very small to the very large.
To date, gossamer structures have been successfully utilized in a variety of applications, such as solar sails, solar concentrators, radar sun shields, and optical devices. The overall success of PGA has stimulated interest in their expanded use for near-term and more distant space missions. For example, precision gossamer apertures have been regarded as critical elements in meeting the requirements of ultralightweight reflectors in radio wavelength (RF), space-based telescopes, space interferometers, deep space antennas, Earth radiometers, telescopes, solar arrays, and spacecraft...
