MISSE 6 Stressed Polymers Experiment Atomic Oxygen Erosion Data

Polymers and other oxidizable materials used on the exterior of spacecraft in the low Earth orbit (LEO) space environment can be eroded away by reaction with atomic oxygen (AO). For spacecraft design, it is important to know the LEO AO erosion yield, Ey (volume loss per incident oxygen atom), of materials susceptible to AO erosion. The Stressed Polymers Experiment was developed and flown as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment 6 (MISSE 6) to compare the AO erosion yields of stressed and non-stressed polymers to determine if erosion is dependent upon stress while in LEO. The experiment contained 36 thin film polymer samples that were exposed to ram AO for 1.45 years. This paper provides an overview of the Stressed Polymers Experiment with details on the polymers flown, the characterization techniques used, the AO fluence, and the erosion yield results. The MISSE 6 data are compared to data for similar samples flown on previous MISSE missions to determine fluence or solar radiation effects on erosion yield.