Method for releasing a deployable boom

A method of deploying an extensible boom from a housing that is part of a space vehicle, the method comprising:

• supporting first and second flexible rectangular sheets under compression in a stowed configuration on a same spool in the housing, each of the sheets supporting thereon a respective array of transducer devices, wherein each particular one of the first and second sheets has a respective surface that faces backside surfaces of all the transducer devices supported by the particular one of the sheets, the surface of each of the particular one of the sheets having an area that is greater than a combined area of the backside surfaces of all the transducer devices supported by the particular one of the sheets, and the housing having a rectangular parallel-piped shape, wherein in the stowed configuration each of the first and second sheets is circumferentially wound about the same spool;
• and
• releasing the first and second sheets from the stowed configuration by releasing the spool to allow the spool to rotate during a deployment operation so that each of the first and second sheets automatically deploys from the spool and unwinds into a curvilinear sheet having a uniform radius of curvature along a major axis of the sheet and extending substantially linearly away from the housing;
• wherein the first and second sheets are deployed simultaneously so that the first sheet is deployed in a first direction from the housing and the second sheet is deployed in an opposite direction from the housing such that angular momentum imparted by deploying the first sheet is canceled by angular momentum imparted by deploying the second sheet and vice-versa, thereby stabilizing the space vehicle by applying equal and opposite forces to the space vehicle.