The Development of an Ir Environmental System for Topex/poseidon Solar Panel Testing

l{nvironmental testing and flight clualification of the ‘1’OPEX/POSEIDON spacecraft solar panels were performed with infrared (IR) lamps and a control system that were newly designed and integrated. The basic goal was more rigorous testing of the. costly panels’ new conqJositestructure design without jeopardizing their safety, The technique greatly reduces the costs and high risks of testing flight solar panc]s. “l”he high cost of conventional thermal vacuum testing was the driver for a new approach to qualifying the panels’ design. While JR simulation does not substitute for full solar spectrum testing, it has unique characteristics that make adyuate, affordable thermal testing possible. “J’hc required uniform heat flux distribution of one solar constant or more was produced over the large panel area, I’he objective of the technique’s design and its fixture implementation was the creation of realistic, large thermal transient conditions that would produce large gradients in a panel in real-time simulation. ‘Jle technique ut i lizcs new tcc}~nologies and advances in commercial components to simulate realistic thermal conditions while keeping flight hardware safe. q’hc fixture supporting the panels during testing required an unrestrained mechanical suspension system so that panel distortion, caused by thermal change, would not damage the panel structure.