NASA's Photovoltaic Energy Research Plans and Programs
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Design Considerations - Lessons Learned
Initial concept used solar cell high altitude flight calibration holders but they added significant mass. Found a
solution to use a single circuit board type top surface to mount the solar cells
NASA
During early design the launch loads were not well known which presented a challenge to design the platform to
be lightweight but still robust. Multiple iterations were considered and modeled to get to the final design.
The thermal environment turned out to be our largest environmental driver. Challenge to keep the electronics
warm during transit to the moon and to keep them cool while on the surface during the lunar day. Found solutions
with multilayer insulation and thermal tape.
Built scaled mock-ups of the platform to better understand interfaces and clearances
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Heat Load
PILS Thermal Analysis Model
www.nasa.gov
Mises) Stress-Top/Bottom
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PILS Structural Analysis Model
PILS Platform High Fidelity Mock UpView entire presentation