The Air Force Materials Laboratory currently has two programs to improve the characterization of spacecraft-type materials for their contamination potential. The first program, Material Selection Criteria, is to develop a standardized out-gassing and condensation test providing kinetic data to support contamination models. The test will include quartz crystal microbalances, an effusion cell, and a mass spectrometer. The second program is to develop a chamber at Arnold Engineering and Development Center to determine the effects of contamination on sensitive spacecraft surfaces. The chamber should be capable of measuring change in solar absorbence on thermal control surfaces, change in transmittance of a Germanium window and change in efficiency of a solar cell, all as a function of contaminant mass level of the surface.
Combined contamination and space environmental effects on solar cells and thermal control surfaces