joint to the flowering of the segments of an optical space telescope

摘要

A system is disclosed for deploying the petals of a sectored mirror assembly of an optical space telescope, wherein the sectored mirror includes a central hub (14) and a plurality of petals (20) disposed about the periphery of the central hub (14), and each petal has a petal root (30) independently hinged to the central hub (14). The system includes a first hinge assembly (100) having a root mount secured to a petal root (30) and a hub mount secured the central hub (14), whereby the first hinge assembly (100) affords the petal associated therewith freedom of rotation about a petal hinge axis. The system further includes a second hinge assembly (200) including a root mount secured to the petal root and a hub mount secured to the central hub (14), whereby the second hinge assembly (200) affords the petal associated therewith freedom of rotation about the petal hinge axis and freedom to expand and contract thermally, and move rigidly along the petal hinge axis in a frictionless, unconstrained manner. The system also includes a latch assembly (300) including a clevis secured to the petal root at a location spaced from the hinge axis and a pair of laterally opposed latch mechanism operatively associated with the central hub (14) for engaging the clevis upon rotation of the petal about the hinge axis from a stowed position to a deployed position. IMAGE