Abstract
Atomic oxygen resident in low Earth orbit (LEO) impinges upon orbiting spacecraft such as Space Station Freedom (SSF) with sufficient flux to cause rapid oxidation and premature failure of organic spacecraft materials. Protective coatings consisting of metal oxides, fluoropolymerfilled metal oxides, and silicones can be used to minimize the reaction of atomic oxygen with organic materials. Such protective coatings are necessary for the long-term durability of polymeric films such as polyimide Kapton solar array blankets and other oxidizable materials. Defects in atomic oxygen protective coatings can enable atomic oxygen to react and oxidize the underlying polymeric material. The number and area of atomic oxygen defects is dependent upon surface irregularities, contamination during protective coating deposition, flexure or abrasion during materials processing, and micrometeoroid or debris impact in space. A combination of ground-based LEO simulation testing, in-space experiments, and Monte Carlo modeling have been utilized to forecast degradation modes of atomic oxygen protected materials exposed to sweeping atomic oxygen arrival conditions such as will occur on SSF.
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References
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© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Banks, B.A., Rutledge, S.K., de Groh, K.K., Auer, B.M., Hill, C.M. (1993). Atomic Oxygen Protective Coatings. In: DeWitt, R.N., Duston, D., Hyder, A.K. (eds) The Behavior of Systems in the Space Environment. NATO ASI Series, vol 245. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2048-7_42
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2048-7_42
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