ROSA

ROSA= Roll-Out Solar Array

Solar panel stowed>

Solar panel deployed

Credit: NASA

Launched together with: Dragon CRS-11 - NICER - ROSA - Bird B, G, J, M, N

Prime manufacturer	Deployable Space Systems, Inc.
Platform	Temporary ISS payload
Operator	Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Deployable Space Systems, Inc.
Mass at launch	<500 kg
Dry Mass	kg
Basic shape
Dimension (m)
Equipment	Roll-out Solar array
Solar array
Stabilization
Propulsion	None
DC power	via ISS

Re-entered date:	26 Jun 2017 - 21:15 UT
Lifetime:

The ROSA (Roll-Out Solar Array) is a new type of solar panel that rolls open in space like a party favor and is more compact than current rigid panel designs. The ROSA investigation tests deployment and retraction, shape changes when the Earth blocks the sun, and other physical challenges to determine the array’s strength and durability at the International Space Station (ISS).
It is an innovative new solar array design that uses high strain one-piece composite slit-tube booms. The stored strain energy of the booms enforces the deployment actuation, and the booms provide the array's deployed structural stiffness and strength.
ROSA is stowed in the trunk of the SpaceX’s Dragon capsule during launch. Once on orbit, the ISS robotic arm removes ROSA from the Dragon trunk and temporarily stows it on an ELC. When ROSA operations are ready to begin, the ROSA is picked up by the ISS robotics arm and located in its operations location. The ROSA operations are conducted while attached to the SSRMS/SPDM for a duration of 7 days. During initial deployment of the array, video is required. Data are recorded using embedded sensors on the experiment. Testing is activated and commanded via the ground controllers (ROBO). Payload Health and Status and Experiment Data are downlinked via 1553 communications.
At the end of the experiment, ROSA is retracted and place back into the trunk of the Dragon capsule to be discarded.

The ROSA solar array was unberthed from Dragon's trunk on Jun 17, 2017 and was deployed on the end of the SPDM/SSRMS. It remained deployed until Jun 26, and was extended and retracted several times. The final retraction was unsuccessful and ROSA was jettisoned into orbit at 2115 UTC Jun 26.

Ref.: #7(JR739,740), #14, #228 - update: 10.11.17