Patent ID: 8800935

Claim:
A spacecraft comprising: a main body structure; a payload element; and a mechanism, said mechanism coupling the payload element to the main body structure, and comprising a four-bar linkage, the four-bar linkage comprising a first rotating member, having a first inboard end and a first outboard end, and a second rotating member, having a second inboard end and a second outboard end; wherein the mechanism is configured to stow and deploy the payload element by rotating the first and second rotating members by up to approximately 90 degrees; the first rotating member is pivotally coupled, in a plane of rotation, proximate to the first outboard end, to a first pivot point of a connecting link and pivotally coupled, within the plane of rotation, proximate to the first inboard end, to the main body structure; the second rotating member is pivotally coupled, in the plane of rotation, proximate to the second outboard end, to a second pivot point of the connecting link and pivotally coupled, within the plane of rotation, proximate to the second inboard end, to the main body structure; the four-bar linkage defines a linkage axis, the linkage axis being a projected line within the plane of rotation, orthogonal to the connecting link and originating from a midpoint of the connecting link; and the four-bar linkage is configured to rotate the payload element, after the payload element is deployed, about a virtual pivot point (VPP) substantially distant from the mechanism the VPP being a single point through which the linkage axis passes for any rotation angle of the first and second rotating member within a predetermined range, greater than zero, of rotation angles.