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Space Weathering Experiments on Spacecraft Materials

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Abstract

A project to investigate space environment effects on specific materials with interest to remote sensing was initiated in 2016. The goal of the project is to better characterize changes in the optical properties of polymers found in multi-layered spacecraft insulation (MLI) induced by electron bombardment. Previous analysis shows that chemical bonds break and potentially reform when exposed to high energy electrons like those seen in orbit. These chemical changes have been shown to alter a material’s optical signature, among other material properties. This paper presents the initial experimental results of MLI materials exposed to various fluences of high energy electrons, designed to simulate a portion of the geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) space environment. In situ optical reflectivity measurements are presented before, during and after electron dosing. It is shown that the spectral profile of some of the tested materials changes as a function of electron dose. These results provide an experimental benchmark for analysis of aging effects on satellite systems which can be used to improve remote sensing and space situational awareness. They also provide preliminary analysis on those materials that are most likely to comprise the high area-to-mass ratio (HAMR) population of space debris in the geosynchronous orbit environment. Finally, the results presented in this paper serve as a proof of concept for simulated environmental aging of spacecraft polymers that should lead to more experiments using a larger subset of spacecraft materials.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Remote Sensing and Imaging Physics Portfolio (Dr. Stacy Williams). Grant 17RVCOR414.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Assurance Technology Corporation Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM, 87117, USA

    D. P. Engelhart & E. Plis

  2. Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM, 87117, USA

    R. Cooper, D. Ferguson, D. Barton, S. Schiefer & R. Hoffmann

  3. NASA Johnson Space Center, University of Texas-El Paso-Jacobs JETS Contract, Houston, TX, 77058, USA

    H. Cowardin

  4. Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    J. Maxwell

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  1. D. P. Engelhart
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Correspondence to R. Hoffmann.

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Engelhart, D.P., Cooper, R., Cowardin, H. et al. Space Weathering Experiments on Spacecraft Materials. J Astronaut Sci 66, 210–223 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40295-019-00175-2

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