Silicon thermal control blanket
AssigneeTRW Inc.
InventorJames A. Roth
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thermal blanket (28) for use in connection with a spacecraft (10) or spacecraft component for providing a thermal control coating. The thermal blanket (28) includes a plastic substrate (22) on which is deposited a silicon film (24) by a vacuum deposition process. The silicon film (24) provides a relatively high infrared light transmission and moderate absorption of high energy bandwidths in the solar spectrum that allows for the reflectance of high energy visible light and the emittance of infrared radiation. Additionally, the silicon film (24) is a hard, robust coating that provides resistance to humidity and other corrosive environments.
Claims12
A passive thermal control blanket, said blanket comprising:
- a substrate;
- and
- a silicon coating on the substrate, said substrate and the silicon coating providing the blanket with preselected emittive characteristics for infrared energy and reflective characteristics for visible light to provide thermal control for an object covered thereby.
A passive thermal control blanket for use in connection with a spacecraft, said blanket comprising:
- a plastic substrate;
- and
- a silicon coating deposited on the substrate to a thickness of between 500-3000 angstroms by a vacuum deposition process, said substrate and the silicon coating providing the blanket with preselected emittive characteristics for infrared energy and reflective characteristics for visible light to provide thermal control for the spacecraft.
A method of protecting a spacecraft body from heat, said method comprising the step of:
- vacuum depositing a silicon coating on a substrate to form a thermal control blanket;
- and
- covering the spacecraft body so that the silicon coating is on an outside surface of the blanket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.