By request of the company “Information satellite systems” named after academician M.F. Reshetnyova “(Roscosmos State Corporation) developed equipment for welding polyimide film 20 micron thick (this is less than a human hair). The unique machine was created in the Resource Center of the Siberian State University of Science and Technology named after Academician Mikhail Fedorovich Reshetnyova in the framework of the project on the creation of astrophysical Observatory “Millimetron”.
From such a film, the ESS specialists make thermal screens for the cosmic telescope, each of which consists of two layers of polyimide film with bilateral aluminum spraying. They will protect the antenna of the cosmic observatory from the heat fluxes of the outer space. The machine not only welds the film, but also allows you to control the welding process and even conduct a dynamic analysis of the quality of the weld. Moreover, its tensile strength is at least 90% of the nominal value.
Constructively new equipment is a table for placing a material and a movable portal with an actuator that includes blocks of application of the binder composition and welding of film elements. The workplace allows you to make welded films with dimensions up to 12 meters.
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Observatory “Millimetron” is a space telescope with a 10-meter antenna. Development participate dozens of domestic research and production organizations. The telescope is designed to study various objects of the universe in millimeter and infrared bands in two modes of operation. The first is a single telescope mode, in which observations are carried out with a maximum sensitivity, achievable with receivers of radiation of space objects on board the observatory. The second mode is the interferometer “Cosmos – Earth”, in this mode, scientific tasks are solved, requiring ultra-high resolution, up to tens of billions of the corner second.