Cellular Glass, 1978 [photograph].

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Cellular Glass, 1978 [photograph].

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/733106020

In October 1978 engineer Michael Giovan was part of the JPL Materials Research and Technology Group. The image at left appeared in Universe and shows him with samples of cellular glass, one of many materials tested for possible use as the support structure for solar concentrator mirrors. Cellular glass is made from finely ground glass mixed with a foaming agent, then heated. It was tested to determine tensile strength, compression strength, and ability to resist cracks (left to right in the color photo). Materials needed to be strong for their weight, rigid, able to withstand temperature and humidity extremes, and be inexpensively mass-produced. Easy maintenance and long term performance were also important. A solar concentrator was built the following year at Edwards Test Station, using solar mirrors bonded to structural cellular glass. The study revealed some limitations of cellular glass, including the need for a coating to prevent slow crack growth and freeze/thaw degradation, and very high initial cost of specialized manufacturing. The Solar Thermal Power Systems Project was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Jet Propulsion Laboratory Library and Archives

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SNAC Resource ID: 8108260

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Library and Archives

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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.). Photolab.

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One of the first people hired at GALCIT Project #1 in November 1941 was photographer George Emmerson (1913-1994), an emigrant from Newcastle, Great Britain. Audrey Voice and Mary J. Taylor as photographer's assistants joined Emmerson in 1943. Emmerson took almost all the early photos that became a part of this collection, a collection described in brief as the work product of the JPL Photolab. As JPL grew, so did the assignments to the Photolab to photograph all Laborato...

Giovan, Michael.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qz9x9m (person)