SCARLET development, fabrication, and testing for the Deep Space 1 spacecraft

Abstract

An advanced version of "Solar Concentrator Arrays with Refractive Linear Element Technology" (SCARLET) is being assembled for use on the first NASA/JPL New Millennium spacecraft: Deep Space One (DS1). The array is scaled up from the first SCARLET array that was built for the METEOR satellite in 1995 and incorporates advanced technologies such as dual-junction solar cells and an improved structural design. Due to the failure of the Conestoga launch vehicle, this will be the first flight of a modular concentrator array. SCARLET will provide 2.6 kW to the DS1 spacecraft to be launched in July 1998 for a mission that includes fly-bys of the asteroid McAuliffe, Mars and the comet West-Kohoutek-Ikemura. This paper describes the SCARLET design, fabrication/assembly and testing program for the flight system.