| Summary
The LA-II thermal coating is a low absorptance inorganic
white paint. The purpose of this technology demonstration
is to validate the thermal performance of an improved
white thermal control coating developed by AZ Technology,
Inc. A low absorptance thermal coating will allow radiators
to run cooler when exposed to a UV environment and thereby
provide improved performance for space radiators. The
known NASA/GSFC Z93P White Paint was used as a baseline
thermal coating for comparison purposes.
Two flight calorimeters, as shown to the right, were
mounted on a common aluminum bracket that was attached
to the EO-1 equipment bay panel. The calorimeters contained
disc samples of the two thermal coating paints. In addition
to providing a structural mount to the spacecraft, the
bracket allows the disc samples to reside above the
radiator surface, thereby increasing the view factor
to space and reducing inputs from other spacecraft components.
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