Energy Magazine February 2015 | Page 17

HEADLINE
When unfoled , the panel has a hexagonal shape .
researchers at the JPL . It starts out in a flower-shaped form and folds out into a hexagonal shape .
“ This is just begging to be deployed with centrifugal force ,” Trease said . “ We could have it on spacecraft where we just spin it and that force allows the panels to deploy out to their position .”
Naturally , there is much work to be done on the panel , but the team is taking the concept very seriously . Trease explained that different materials needed to be stress tested and they need to find a way to quickly and effectively unfold the panel .
As cool as the panel may look , its artistic shape is truly beneficial to the future of space flight .
“ The public has to know it ’ s more than just paper folding , it ’ s more than just this children ’ s art or something you do in school ,” Trease said . “ There ’ s a lot of artistic expertise in understanding
17