The Rossi x-ray timing explorer (XTE) solar array anomaly

The Rossi X-ray timing explorer (XTE) was launched on 30 December 1995. Shortly after launch, it became apparent that the solar array was not performing as expected, On leaving shadow, the array exhibited many discontinuous drops in current output. The size of each of these drops teas consistent with the loss of part of a cell. The current decreases could not be caused by the loss of an entire cell or an entire circuit, This meant that the array had numerous cracked solar cells that opened as the array got war mer. Studies performed on the array's qualification panel suggest that the cell cracks may have been caused by extensive tap testing performed on the array and that these cracks were undetectable at room temperature using usual inspection methods. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This paper was produced under the auspices of the US Government and it is therefore not subject to copyright in the USA.