Articulating sunshield
US10618677B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 3, 2017 |
| Grant date | Apr 14, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 17, 2038 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB64G1/58
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Techniques for articulating a sunshield to shade portions of a spacecraft are disclosed. In one aspect, a spacecraft includes a body and an articulable sunshield. The spacecraft is configured to operate in an orbital plane, such that the spacecraft has a yaw axis within the orbital plane and directed from a spacecraft coordinate system origin toward nadir, a pitch axis orthogonal to the orbital plane and passing through the spacecraft coordinate system origin, and a roll axis orthogonal to the pitch axis and the yaw axis and passing through the spacecraft coordinate system origin. The sunshield is configured to rotate about an axis substantially parallel to the pitch axis such that a selected location of an exterior portion of the body is shaded from the Sun by a surface of the sunshield irrespective of seasonal and diurnal variations in orientation of the spacecraft with respect to the Sun.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.