Abstract
The severe environmental conditions in low Earth orbit (LEO) have a detrimental effect on the performance and longevity of some thermal control coatings. Commonly used thermal control materials such as silver-Teflon, Kapton, and organic paints have shown significant mass loss and changes in optical properties after exposure in LEO. Sulfuric acid anodized aluminum has been evaluated as a thermal control coating for the radiators of the Space Station Freedom. The evaluation included: study of processing parameters necessary to achieve suitable solar absorptance (a) and thermal emittance (c) properties; study of temperature effects on the stability of the aluminum oxide produced by sulfuric acid anodizing; ultraviolet radiation, and electron radiation testing of sulfuric acid anodized aluminum; and characterization of surface chemistry and morphology before and after environmental testing to determine the cause of degradation. Results show that sulfuric acid anodized aluminum may be a satisfactory thermal control coating for the radiators of the Space Station Freedom.
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