Sensitive Technique Developed Using Atomic Force Microscopy to Measure the Low-Earth-Orbit Atomic Oxygen Erosion of Polymers

A recession measurement technique has been developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center to determine the atomic oxygen durability of polymers exposed to the space environment for short durations. Polymers such as polyimide Kapton and Teflon FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene, DuPont) are commonly used in spacecraft because of their desirable properties, such as flexibility, low density, and in the case of FEP, low solar absorptance and high thermal emittance. Polymers on the exterior of spacecraft in the low- Earth-orbit environment are exposed to energetic atomic oxygen, resulting in erosion and potential structural loss. It is, therefore, important to understand the atomic oxygen erosion yield (E, the volume loss per incident oxygen atom) of polymers being considered in spacecraft design. Because long-term space exposure data are rare and very costly, short-term exposures, such as on the space shuttles, are often relied on for atomic oxygen erosion determination. The most common technique for determining E is through mass-loss measurements. For limited-duration exposure experiments, such as shuttle flight experiments, the atomic oxygen fluence is often so small that mass-loss measurements are not sensitive enough. Therefore, a recession measurement technique has been developed at Glenn to obtain accurate erosion yields of polymers exposed to low atomic oxygen fluences.