This is a sample of the Kapton material used to contruct and unfurl the prototype Solar Array Experiment (SAE) on STS-41D-- the first flight of the orbiter Discovery-- in 1984. The solar panel was constructed in preparation for building a future space station. Today, giant solar arrays very similar to it are used to power the International Space Station.        Kapton is a light-weight plastic and is approximately .001 inch in thickness. The active solar cells and their circuits are mounted in between two sheets of Kapton.        The photo on the right shows the prototype array fully deployed from the payload bay of STS-41D Discovery.