Vessel Solar Concentrator Test Satellite (1963)

[Graham2001]

During the early 1960's NASA was studying several solar power systems using reflective mirrors to gather sunlight to generate steam. One proposed but unflown mission in support of this research was a Scout launched payload (See the attached picture) designed to test the effect of long term space environment exposure on various reflective materials.

If anyone is interested in modeling this ancestor of the LDEF, the details are in the linked report:

Study of a flight experiment of solar-concentrator reflective surfaces

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19640017956_1964017956.pdf