| Summary
Carbon-Carbon is a special composite material that
uses pure carbon for both the fiber and matrix. The
advantages of Carbon-Carbon are that it possesses high
thermal conductivity, including through thickness, and
has strength to weight characteristics superior to aluminum.
The Carbon-Carbon Radiator (CCR) panel is 28.62 in.
x 28.25 in. in size. It is a sandwich panel that consists
of two 0.022-in.-thick C-C facesheets bonded to a 1-in.
5056 aluminum honeycomb core. The internal surface of
the CCR panel is coated with an epoxy encapsulate to
prevent particle contamination of sensitive instruments
on board EO-1 and provide additional strength to the
panel. The external surface of the panel is coated with
silver Teflon as required by the EO-1 spacecraft thermal
design. Photographs of the flight panel are shown below.
The primary thermal function of the EO-1 CCR is to
radiate the 27.8 watts generated by the EO-1 Power Supply
Electronics (PSE) and the 16.3 watts (peak power) generated
by Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array/Atmospheric
Corrector (LEISA/AC) electronics boxes. The panel also
serves as a primary structural member and is required
to support the combined weight of the PSE (50 lb) and
the LAC (10 lb) boxes while being subjected to severe
mechanical launch environmental loading conditions.
Therefore, the objective of this technology validation
is to demonstrate that Carbon-Carbon can be a cost efficient
facesheet material for honeycomb core radiator panels
that also function as part of the spacecraft primary
structure.
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