ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 1 -- United States Patent no. 12,724,181, issued on Sept. 1, was assigned to CoorsTek Inc. (Golden, Colo.).
"Attritable ceramic mirror for space application" was invented by Warren Andrew Thomas (Lakewood, Colo.), Randel F. Mercer (Boulder, Colo.) and Patrick Michael Bickley (Timnath, Colo.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Provided herein is a lightweight satellite component such as an optical mirror for aerospace applications and methods of making such lightweight components. The optical mirror comprises a graphite body and a SiC reflective layer formed on and integrated with the graphite body. The optical mirror is designed for demise upon re-entry into the Earth's atmo...