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Lessons Learned From Atomic Oxygen Interaction With Spacecraft Materials in Low Earth OrbitThere have been five Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) passive experiment carriers (PECs) (MISSE 1-5) to date that have been launched, exposed in space on the exterior of International Space Station (ISS) and then returned to Earth for analysis. An additional four MISSE PECs (MISSE 6A, 6B, 7A, and 7B) are in various stages of completion. The PECs are two-sided suitcase to size sample carriers that are intended to provide information on the effects of the low Earth orbital environment on a wide variety of materials and components. As a result of post retrieval analyses of the retrieved MISSE 2 experiments and numerous prior space experiments, there have been valuable lessons learned and needs identified that are worthy of being documented so that planning, design, and analysis of future space environment experiments can benefit from the experience in order to maximize the knowledge gained. Some of the lessons learned involve the techniques, concepts, and issues associated with measuring atomic oxygen erosion yields. These are presented along with several issues to be considered when designing experiments, such as the uncertainty in mission duration, scattering and contamination effects on results, and the accuracy of measuring atomic oxygen erosion.
Document ID
20080032564
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Technical Memorandum (TM)
Authors
Banks, Bruce A.
(Alphaport, Inc. Cleveland, OH, United States)
deGroh, Kim, K.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Miller, Sharon K.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Waters, Deborah L.
(ASRC Aerospace Corp. Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
July 1, 2008
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
E-16531
NASA/TM-2008-215264
Meeting Information
Meeting: Ninth International Space Conference on Protection of Materials and Structures from the Space Environment (ICMSE-9)
Location: Toronto
Country: Canada
Start Date: May 20, 2008
End Date: May 23, 2008
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 691982.01.03.06.12.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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