A new principle of a solar slot antenna is presented. The slot antenna integrates amorphous silicon solar cells which are directly grown on the ground plane where the slot antenna is cut. To facilitate the deposition of the solar cells, stainless steel was used for the ground plane. The effect on the efficiency of the antenna of this rather unusual choice for the conducting ground plane is also described.

Ground plane

10.1049/el:20001467

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Citations (32)

Hypervelocity impact in low earth orbit: finding subtle impactor signatures on the Hubble Space Telescope

Procedia Engineering (2017)

A. T. Kearsley Julien L. Colaux D. K. Ross P. J. Wozniakiewicz L. Gerlach

Return of materials from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during shuttle orbiter service missions has allowed inspection of large numbers of hypervelocity impact features from long exposure at about 615 km altitude in low Earth orbit (LEO) [1,2]. Here we describe the application of advanced X-ray microanalysis techniques on scanning electron microscopes (SEM), microprobes and a 2 MV Tandetron, to nearly 400 impacts on the painted metal surface of the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) radiator shield [3,4]. We identified artificial Orbital Debris (OD) and natural Micrometeoroid (MM) origins for small [5] and even for larger particles [6], which usually may leave little or no detectable trace on HST solar arrays, as they penetrate through the full cell thickness [2,7].

Hypervelocity

Micrometeoroid

Orbiter

Orbit (dynamics)

10.1016/j.proeng.2017.09.746

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Thin film silicon solar cells for space applications: Study of proton irradiation and thermal annealing effects on the characteristics of solar cells and individual layers

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells (2003)

J. Kuendig M. Goetz A. Shah L. Gerlach Emilio Fernández

Microcrystalline

10.1016/s0927-0248(02)00486-5

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Citations (41)

Thin-film silicon solar cells for space applications: radiation hardness and applications for an integrated Solant (solar cell-antenna) module

J. Kuendig M. Goetz X. Niquille A. Shah S. Vaccaro

A new device called "Solant" (for SOLar cell-ANTenna) is presented in this paper. It is a combination of thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells and flat printed antennas. A proton irradiation campaign has also been carried out on a series of n-i-p amorphous and p-i-n micromorph [microcrystalline (/spl mu/c-Si:H) and amorphous (a-Si:H)] silicon tandem solar cells. The effect of thermal annealing on solar cells degraded by proton irradiation is investigated.

Microcrystalline

Plasmonic solar cell

Radiation hardening

10.1109/pvsc.2000.916074

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Citations (6)

Meteoroid and debris investigation on EURECA

R. Aceti G. Drolshagen L. Gerlach Giuseppe D. Racca

Source

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Post-flight investigation programme for the first solar generator of the Hubble Space Telescope

L. Gerlach

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Citations (3)

Solar Orbiter assessment study and model payload

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE (2005)

N. Rando L. Gerlach G. Janin B. Johlander A. Jeanes

The Solar Orbiter mission is presently in assessment phase by the Science Payload and Advanced Concepts Office of the European Space Agency. The mission is confirmed in the Cosmic Vision programme, with the objective of a launch in October 2013 and no later than May 2015. The Solar Orbiter mission incorporates both a near-Sun (~0.22 AU) and a high-latitude (~ 35 deg) phase, posing new challenges in terms of protection from the intense solar radiation and related spacecraft thermal control, to remain compatible with the programmatic constraints of a medium class mission. This paper provides an overview of the assessment study activities, with specific emphasis on the definition of the model payload and its accommodation in the spacecraft. The main results of the industrial activities conducted with Alcatel Space and EADS-Astrium are summarized.

Orbiter

Payload (computing)

space technology

Space research

Earth observation

Spacecraft design

10.1117/12.621790

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Citations (4)

Systems, Arrays and Applications Workshop 1

Gwan-Hyun Pack L. Gerlach

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