A.L. Sokolov, V.V. Murashkin, A.S. Akentev

Change the orientation of the CCR-arrays relative to the sun leads to uneven heating of the corner reflector. As a result of thermal effects on the CCR there's a change far field diffraction pattern (FFDP). In this paper we considered the influence of thermal effects on the cube corner reflector. We analyzed the experimental data of thermal-vacuum tests of CCRs with metallized coating faces and CCRs with uncoated faces. It was found that as a result of temperature differences between the input face and the apex of the cube corner reflector there is a reduction of the intensity in the center of FFDP. Absolute temperature of the corner reflector during heating and cooling does not influence the far field diffraction pattern of reflected signal. The measurements allow to link the change of FFDP with the speed of temperature change on the input face of the CCR and the temperature gradient.