NASA Tests Flexible Roll-Out Solar Arrays on Space Station (Video)
Space.comTech
By Samantha Mathewson, Space.com Contributor | June 20, 2017 04:00pm ET
NASA's new compact high-power solar array made their debut on the International Space Station Sunday (June 18), allowing astronauts to test the technology's durability for deep-space missions.
The Roll Out Solar Array (ROSA) is incredibly lightweight and flexible, meaning that it can easily be packed into a rocket for launch. ROSA is a collaboration between NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and two private companies, including Deployable Space Systems (DSS) of Santa Barbara, California, and Space Systems Loral (SSL) of Palo Alto, California.
ROSA is designed to power missions using solar-electric propulsion spacecraft. The solar array wing technology is expected save on storage space and cut costs for long-distance trips beyond Earth, according to a statement from NASA. [Beaming Solar Power From Space (Video)]
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This past weekend, engineers on the ground remotely rolled out the solar array using the space station's Canadarm2. The array will remain attached to the robotic arm for seven days. This experiment will test the overall effectiveness of the advanced solar wing. ROSA was delivered to the orbiting lab on June 5 aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship.
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