Abstract

The Hubble Space Telescope uses four novel flexible roll-up solar arrays, extended and supported by an adaptation of the Dehaviland (SPAR of Canada) spring-metal boom, for electric power. The hollow booms endure large solar-induced thermal flexures due to differential solar heating which can be balanced only by conduction during eclipse. By exploiting adaptive optics images, such as from the AMOS CIS, one can resolve virtual solar images (glints) on the cylindrical booms whose positions along the boom will shift with the observer-spacecraft-sun position angles while the attitude of the boom remains fixed in inertial space when the HST is observing some celestial target.

© 1992 Optical Society of America