Space simulation for the study of material outgassing

Abstract

The design of a system to study the outgassing characteristics of materials under a simulated space environment is described. A vacuum chamber simulates the pressure experienced by spacecraft in earth orbit and on the lunar surface. The samples are mounted on a cold/hot surface whose temperature can be varied between −200 and +200 °C. Windows allow the application of ultraviolet radiation. The pressure in the chamber and the material temperatures are monitored, and the outgassing products are analyzed with a quadrupole mass spectrometer. A specially designed sampling system allows the mass spectrometer to automatically measure gases in the simulation chamber for a wide range of dynamically varying pressures. Applications of the space simulation chamber to dielectric-material outgassing characterization under the space environment conditions are discussed.