MISSE PEACE Polymers - An International Space Station environmental exposure experiment

Abstract

Forty-one different polymers are being exposed to the low Earth orbit (LEO) environment on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) for one year as part of MISSE (Materials International Space Station Experiment). MISSE is a materials flight experiment sponsored by the Air Force Research Lab/Materials Lab and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A second set of the same polymers is planned to be flown as part of PEACE (Polymer Erosion And Contamination Experiment), a short duration shuttle flight experiment, and therefore these forty-one polymers on ISS are collectively called the MISSE PEACE Polymers. The objective of the MISSE PEACE Polymers experiment is to accurately determine the atomic oxygen (AO) erosion yield of a wide variety of polymeric materials. 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. Details on the specific polymers being flown, flight sample fabrication, and pre-flight characterization techniques will be discussed. The MISSE PEACE Polymers experiment was placed on the exterior of ISS during a spacewalk on August 16, 2001 and is planned to be retrieved in the fall of 2002. The erosion yield data obtained from this experiment will be compared with data from the future short duration experiment PEACE and with predicted results from models developed by a Canadian group that predicts the AO erosion yield of organic materials based on their chemical structure. Having flight data, and comparing flight data with the predictive model results, will be valuable for spacecraft design purposes.