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Materials International Space Station (MISSE) Titles

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Titles:

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J. M. Tate, J. K. Bartlett, J. A. Robinson, C. C. Maender, L. Putcha, S. M. Smith, M. A. Bowman, S. A. Dulchavsky, A. E. Sargsyan, S. K. Miller, B. A. Banks, K. K. deGroh and D. Tsui, “Synergies between Space Research and Space Operations - Examples from the International Space Station” Presented at the 45th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, January 8-11, 2007, Reno, Nevada, AIAA Paper # AIAA 2007-547 (January 2007).

Primary objectives for the International Space Station (ISS) in support of the Vision for Space Exploration included conducting research to counteract the harmful effects of space on human health, test new space technologies, and learn to operate long-duration space missions.  In pursuit of these objectives, NASA is interested in closer cooperation between the ISS operational community, scientists, and engineers.  To develop the exploration vehicles for missions to the moon and Mars, NASA must test materials, foods, and medicines to ensure their performance in the space environment.  These results will enable important decisions on the materials to be used for future space vehicles.  Another critical factor for the success on future missions beyond Earth’s orbit is the capability for repairs of equipment.  On the ISS, the practice of crewmembers performing repairs in microgravity will increase our understanding of the repair processes in space; when these capabilities are needed during future space exploration missions, we will have the knowledge and experience to perform them.  The ISS is a unique and irreplaceable training ground for building the operational knowledge required to safely conduct future exploration missions, and the growing links within the science, engineering and operations communities are reinforcing the value of that training.  Current interactions between the communities that support the ISS have already produced many synergies that are significantly accelerating NASA’s advancement towards future exploration missions in support of the Vision.

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K. K. de Groh, B. A. Banks, C. E. McCarthy, R. N. Rucker, L. M. Roberts and L. A. Berger, “MISSE PEACE Polymers Atomic Oxygen Erosion Results” in the proceedings of the 2006 National Space & Missile Materials Symposium in conjunction with the 2006 MISSE Post-Retrieval Conference, Orlando, Florida, June 26 - 30, 2006; also NASA TM-2006-214482.

Forty-one different polymer samples, collectively called the Polymer Erosion and Contamination Experiment (PEACE) Polymers, have been exposed to the low Earth orbit (LEO) environment on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) for nearly four years as part of Materials International Space Station Experiment 2 (MISSE 2).  The objective of the PEACE Polymers experiment was to determine the atomic oxygen erosion yield of a wide variety of polymeric materials after long term exposure to the space environment.  The polymers range from those commonly used for spacecraft applications, such as Teflon FEP, to more recently developed polymers, such as high temperature polyimide PMR (polymerization of monomer reactants).  Additional polymers were included to explore erosion yield dependence upon chemical composition.  The MISSE PEACE Polymers experiment was flown in MISSE Passive Experiment Carrier 2 (PEC 2), tray 1, on the exterior of the ISS Quest Airlock and was exposed to atomic oxygen along with solar and charged particle radiation.  MISSE 2 was successfully retrieved during a space walk on July 30, 2005 during Discovery’s STS-114 Return to Flight mission.  Details on the specific polymers flown, flight sample fabrication, pre-flight and post-flight characterization techniques, and atomic oxygen fluence calculations are discussed along with a summary of the atomic oxygen erosion yield results.  The MISSE 2 PEACE Polymers experiment is unique because it has the widest variety of polymers flown in LEO for a long duration and provides extremely valuable erosion yield data for spacecraft design purposes.
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Banks, B. A., de Groh, K. K., and Miller S. K., “MISSE Scattered Atomic Oxygen Characterization Experiment”, TM-2006-214355, May 2006, paper presented at the 2006 MISSE Post-Retreival Conference sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory, Orlando, Florida, June 26 – 30, 2006

An experiment designed to measure the atomic oxygen (AO) erosion profile of scattered AO was exposed to low Earth orbital (LEO) AO for almost 4 years as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment 1 & 2 (MISSE 1 & 2).  The experiment was flown in MISSE Passive Experiment Carrier 2 (PEC 2), Tray 1, attached to the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) Quest Airlock.  The experiment consisted of an aperture disk lid of Kapton H polyimide coated on the space exposed surface with a thin AO durable silicon dioxide film.  The aperture lid had a small hole in its center to allow AO to enter into a chamber and impact a base disk of aluminum.  The AO that scattered from the aluminum base could react with the under side of the aperture lid which was coated sporadically with microscopic sodium chloride particles.  Scattered AO erosion can occur to materials within a spacecraft that are protected from direct AO attack but because of apertures in the spacecraft the AO can attack the interior materials after scattering.  The erosion of the underside of the Kapton lid was sufficient to be able to use profilometry to measure the height of the buttes that remained after washing off the salt particles.  The erosion pattern indicated that peak flux of scattered AO occurred at and angle of approximately 45o degrees from the incoming normal incidence on the aluminum base unlike the erosion pattern predicted for scattering based on Monte Carlo computational predictions for AO scattering from Kapton H polyimide.  The effective erosion yield for the scattered AO was found to be a factor of 0.214 of that for direct impingement on Kapton H polyimide.

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Snyder, A., Banks, B. A., and Waters, D. L., “Undercutting Studies of Protected Kapton H Exposed to In-Space and Ground-Based Atomic Oxygen,” NASA TM-2006-214387, August 2006, Paper presented at the 10th International Symposium on Materials in a Space Environment & 8th International Conference on Protection of Materials and Structures in a Space Environment, Collioure, France, June 19 – 23, 2006

This study is part of a Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) sequence to characterize the performance of prospective spacecraft materials when subjected to the synergistic effects of the space environment.  Atomic oxygen (AO) is the most prevalent species in low earth orbit (LEO).  In this environment AO is mainly responsible for the erosion of hydrocarbons and halocarbon polymers.  The AO erosion rates of Kapton® H are known and well documented.  Hence, it is customary to compare the AO erosion yields of candidate materials to the commonly accepted standard of this polyimide.  The purpose of this study was to provide characterization of AO degradation of SiOx protected Kapton® H film, which was subject during MISSE 2 to undercutting erosion beneath microscopic defects in the protective film, and compare the degradation resulting from hyperthermal ram (~4.5 eV) LEO AO to the degradation resulting from exposure to thermal ground-based (~0.04 eV) AO. 

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Dever, J. A., Miller, S. K., Sechkar, E. A, and Wittberg, T. N., “Preliminary Analysis of Polymer Film Thermal Control and Gossamer Materials Experiments on Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE 1 and MISSE 2),” in proceedings of the 2006 MISSE Post-Retrieval Conference sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory, Orlando, Florida, June 26 – 30, 2006.

A total of 31 samples were included in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) Polymer Film Thermal Control (PFTC) and Gossamer Materials experiments, which were exposed to the low Earth orbit environment for nearly 4 years on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE 1 and MISSE 2).  MISSE is a materials flight experiment sponsored by the Air Force Research Lab/Materials Lab and NASA.  This paper describes objectives, materials, and characterizations for the MISSE 1 and MISSE 2 GRC PFTC and Gossamer Materials samples.  Samples included films of polyimides, fluorinated polyimides, and TeflonÒ fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) with and without second-surface metalizing layers and/or surface coatings.  Also included were films of polyphenylene benzobisoxazole (PBO) and a polyarylene ether benzimidazole (TOR-LMTM).  Polymer film samples were examined post-flight for changes in mechanical and optical properties. The environment in which the samples were located was characterized through analysis of sapphire contamination witness samples and samples dedicated to atomic oxygen (AO) erosion measurements.  Results of the preliminary analyses of the PFTC and Gossamer Materials experiments are discussed.

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Dever, J. A., Miller, S. K., Sechkar, E. A., “Effects of the Space Environment on Polymer Film Materials Exposed on the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE 1 and MISSE 2),” in proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Materials in a Space Environment & 8th International Conference on Protection of Materials and Structures in a Space Environment, Collioure, France, June 19 – 23, 2006.

A total of 28 polymer film samples were included in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) Polymer Film Thermal Control (PFTC) and Gossamer Materials Experiments, which were exposed to the low Earth orbit environment for nearly 4 years on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE 1 and MISSE 2).  MISSE is a materials flight experiment sponsored by the Air Force Research Lab/Materials Lab and NASA.  This paper will describe objectives, materials, and characterizations for the MISSE 1 and MISSE 2 GRC PFTC and Gossamer Materials samples.  Samples included films of polyimides, fluorinated polyimides, and TeflonÒ fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) with and without second-surface metalizing layers and/or surface coatings.  Also included were films of polyphenylene benzobisoxazole (PBO) and a polyarylene ether benzimidazole (TOR-LMTM).  Polymer film samples were examined post-flight for changes in mechanical and optical properties and for  atomic oxygen (AO) erosion.  Results of the preliminary analyses of the PFTC and Gossamer Materials Experiments are discussed.



 
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