Space environment and vacuum properties of spacecraft materials

Abstract

This review of the literature of vacuum aspects of space science and technology during the last decade has focused on (i) the vacuum environment of spacecraft in orbit and under test and (ii) materials for structures, instrumentation and mechanisms of spacecraft. Earlier knowledge of the parameters of the environment for near-Earth orbits has been consolidated. There have been advances in the understanding of the molecular flow around spacecraft. The outgassing of materials remains an important consideration, so criteria for selection still include low mass loss and low propensity to contaminate critical surfaces. There are now good data for the choice of lubricants, both liquid and solid, for mechanisms intended to operate for several years in space. The techniques for spacecraft testing in space simulation chambers are well established and only relatively small special-purpose chambers are now being built.