The Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) is a set of space exposure experiments using the International Space Station (ISS) as the flight platform. MISSE 5 is a co-operative endeavor by NASA-LaRC, United Stated Naval Academy, Naval Center for Space Technology (NCST), NASA-GRC, NASA-MSFC, Boeing, AZ Technology, MURE, and Team Cooperative. The primary experiment is performance measurement and monitoring of high performance solar cells for U.S. Navy research and development. A secondary experiment is the telemetry of this data to ground stations. A third experiment is the measurement of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) low-Sun-exposure space effects on thin film materials. Thin films can provide extremely efficacious thermal control, designation, and propulsion functions in space to name a few applications. Solar ultraviolet radiation and atomic oxygen are major degradation mechanisms in LEO. This paper is an engineering report of the MISSE 5 thm films 13 months space exposure experiment

Harvey, Gale A.

Jones, James L.

Kinard, William H.

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NASA Langley Research Center 
MISSE 5 Thin Films Space Exposure Experiment 
Gale A. Harvey, William H. ICinard, and James L. Jones 
NASA Langley Research Center 
Hampton, VA 23681-2199 
AIAA Space 2007 Conference & Exposition 
Long Beach, CA September 2007 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20070027137 2019-08-30T01:26:51+00:00Z
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MISSE 5 Thin Films Space Exposure Experiment 
 
Gale A. Harvey1 , William H. Kinard2, and James L. Jones3 
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, 23681 
 
Abstract 
     
     The Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) is a set of space exposure experiments 
using the International Space Station (ISS) as the flight platform.   MISSE 5 is a co-operative endeavor by 
NASA-LaRC, United Stated Naval Academy, Naval Center for Space Technology (NCST), NASA-GRC, 
NASA-MSFC, Boeing, AZ Technology, MURE, and Team Cooperative.   The primary experiment is 
performance measurement and monitoring of high performance solar cells for U. S. Navy research and 
development.   A secondary experiment is the telemetry of this data to ground stations.   A third experiment 
is the measurement of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) low-Sun-exposure space effects on thin film materials.   Thin 
films can provide extremely efficacious thermal control, designation, and propulsion functions in space to 
name a few applications.   Solar ultraviolet radiation and atomic oxygen are major degradation mechanisms 
in LEO.   This paper is an engineering report of the MISSE 5 thin films 13 months space exposure 
experiment. 
 
I. Introduction 
 
The International Space Station (ISS) (Figure 1) is a key element of the NASA Human Exploration and 
Development of Space Enterprise.   The ISS will expand our knowledge and help bring the benefits of 
space to Earth.   The first element of the ISS was launched in November 1998.   The ISS became inhabited 
in October 2000.   The ISS is scheduled for completion in the 2010 timeframe. 
     The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) and the Mir Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP) 
utilized hardware returned from low-Earth-orbit (LEO) to study and measure space and spacecraft induced 
environmental effects.   A section of a solar array returned from the Mir space station has also been 
extensively studied for power degradation, micrometeoroid, and contamination effects. 
     Numerous papers, including references 1-6, have been written on analyses of the returned hardware.   
The LDEF had more than 5 years space exposure, the MEEP hardware had more than one year space 
exposure, and the returned Mir solar array had more than ten years of space exposure. 
     The space exposed materials of the MEEP experiment were housed in suitcase-like Payload Experiment 
Containers (PECs) (Figure 2) for transporting to and from Mir via the Shuttle Orbiter.   Four of these PECs 
were clamped to handrails of the Mir-Orbiter docking module.   These PECs were refurbished, and PECs 1 
and 2 were deployed on the ISS August 10, 2001.   These two PECs were retrieved July 30, 2005.   PECs 3 
and 4 were deployed on the ISS July 2006 and are expected to be retrieved in late 2007.   The experiment 
trays temperature-measurement system for PECs 1, 2, 3, and 4 is described in reference 7.   Experiment 
tray temperature measurements for PECs 1 and 2 are reported in reference 8.   PEC 5 was fabricated in 
2003, for an early-opportunity deployment on the ISS.   PEC 5 was deployed August 5, 2005 and returned 
September 15, 2006. 
     MISSE is being developed as an element of the Engineering Research and Technology Program at 
Johnson Space Center as an innovative technical concept to expand the utilization of the ISS.   It is a 
cooperative endeavor by the NASA Langley Research Center, NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA 
Marshal Space Flight Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, the Materials Laboratory at the Air Force 
Research Laboratory, and the Boeing Phantom works.   The objective of MISSE is to evaluate 
performance, stability, and long term survivability of materials and components planned for use by NASA 
and DOD on future LEO, synchronous orbit, and interplanetary space missions. 
 
1Research Scientist, Systems Engineering Directorate, Mail Stop 424 
2Senior Research Scientist, Materials and Chemistry Directorate, Mail Stop  
3Deceased Research Scientist, Materials and Chemistry directorate 
 
 
 
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II. Experiment Constraints and Sample Attachment Methods 
 
     The MISSE 5 primary experiments Provide Communications System in the Amateur Satellite Service 
for Telemetry Command and Control (PCSat2) and the Forward Technology Solar Cell Experiment 
(FTSCE).   The solar cell experiment requires a Sun-looking orientation for one of the experiment trays.   
Therefore, the opposite experiment side received little direct Sun exposure.   It was desirable to fly (expose 
to LEO) several hundreds of thin film materials with little Sun exposure in order to separate the effects of 
solar ultraviolet degradation from atomic oxygen degradation.   The materials part of MISSE 5 was tightly 
constrained in mass (less than one pound) and in volume.   These tight constraints in mass and volume also 
constrained the attachment mechanisms.   The thin film attachment method was to secure the samples on a 
5 mil thick Kapton sheet with ¼ inch wide high temperature acrylic transfer tape at each end of the 
samples.   One mil thick, 1/2 –inch wide Kapton tape strips were then placed over the last ¼-inch of each 
sample and on1/4-inch of the Kapton sheet as the second attachment method.   Approximately 1/8-inch 
long stitches are then sown through the sample, 5 mil Kapton sheet, transfer tape, and Kapton tape as a 
third (mechanical) attachment method.   After sewing, a ½-inch wide, one mil Kapton tape strip was placed 
over the stitches on the bottom of the 5 mil Kapton blanket to secure the stitches.   ½-inch wide by 3 mil 
aluminum foil tape was then placed over the stitches on the top side of the blanket to protect the stitches 
from atomic oxygen erosion.   The schematic in figure 3 shows the three simultaneous methods of 
attachment.   Doubly redundant attachment was desirable because many of the samples were fluorocarbon 
materials with low adhesion to the acrylic tape adhesive.   Load test of the 5 mil Kapton after sewing were 
performed to verify the structural integrity of the flight blanket after sewing.   The blanket was capable of 
sustaining more than 10/lbs/inch of constant tension loading for an indefinite (more than one year) period 
of time.   A pull test on one end of each sample attached to 5 mil Kapton by the above method was 
conducted.  All samples accepted for flight survived a one pound pull on a 3/8-inch wide sample.   
Adhesion tests were performed on the aluminum tape.    
 
III. Flight Samples and Attachment Procedure 
 
     254 thin film samples of test materials for LEO space exposure were provided by eight research 
organizations.   A schematic showing the placement of samples by research organization is shown in figure 
4.   An on-orbit photograph of the populated blanket is shown as figure 5.   The samples were arranged so 
that sections of samples could be removed from the blanket and returned to each research organization 
intact after return of MISSE 5 from space.   A list of flight thin film samples is available at the NASA 
Langley MISSE 5 website (MISSE 5, content, MISSE 5, Experiments, Materials Description). 
 
IV. Program and Flight Schedules 
 
     NRL and LaRC initially conceived the MISSE 5 experiment during the fall of 2002.   The low solar 
ultraviolet space exposure part of the experiment concept/evaluation was begun in January 2003.   The 
initial mounting system for the thin film samples was a three-ply carbon-composite thin board with staples 
for mechanical attachment.   Extremely tight weight and packing constraints required abandoning this 
samples attachment method.   Long term static (yield) tests were began in February, 2002 to measure 
Kapton blanket integrity with a range of sewing parameters (types of thread, tension, needle size, and stitch 
lengths) for attaching the thin film samples to the Kapton blanket.   Short term load (pull) tests were 
performed on each candidate thin film material.   Hot (373K) and cold (77K) survival tests on each 
candidate material were also performed.  Those candidate materials that shrank, curled, or were too thick or 
brittle were not accepted for flight.   The thin films that would not support 2.7 pounds/inch pull at the 
attached ends also were not accepted.  The candidate thin film sample testing was completed April 22, 2003 
     The flight samples were attached to the 5 mil Kapton blanket during the period June 6, 2003 through 
June 30, 2003.   The taped areas of the thin films samples blanket were pressure loaded at one pound per 
square inch June 30, 2003 through July 7, 2003.   A pre-flight photograph of the thin films blanket is shown 
in figure 6.   The thin film samples blanket was transported from LaRC to NRL in August 2003. 
     MISSE 5 was deployed August 3, 2005 and returned from space September 15, 2006 with 13 months of 
LEO space exposure.   A post-flight photograph if the thin films blanket is shown in figure 7. 
 
 
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VI.     On-orbit Contamination and Atomic Oxygen Erosion of Kapton 
 
     The MISSE 5 thin films blanket was returned to LaRC and examined in a clean room December 6, 
2006.   The blanket was examined visually and with a 6x comparator under bright light.   The blanket was 
also examined with black (ultraviolet) light.   Kapton and aluminum tape environmental witness samples 
(figure 7) were viewed at 40x with an optical microscope.   All of these examinations showed only very 
slight (from tape adhesive) or no on-orbit contamination.    
     Four approximately 1-inch diameter buttons were used to secure the blanket of thin film materials to the 
anti-solar side of MISSE 5.   The areas adjacent to these four sites provided 1 to 2 cm2 areas of exposed and 
unexposed 5 mil Kapton.   Matching pairs of exposed and unexposed areas of 5 mil Kapton were cut from 
each of the four sites.   The mass eroded by atomic oxygen (mass of unexposed area minus the mass of 
equal exposed area) was divided by the area of the unexposed 5 mil Kapton to give the eroded mass of 
Kapton per unit area.   These Kapton samples were weighed in a Cahn 30 microbalance.   The Kapton 
eroded masses per unit area from the four sites are: 0.58, 0.45, 0.86, and 0.84 mg/cm2.  
      
 
V. Conclusion 
 
      MISSE 5 presented an opportunity to separate the solar ultraviolet LEO environmental effects from 
atomic oxygen effects.  The solar looking primary experiment meant that an anti-solar looking side existed 
for the MISSE 5 PEC.   A novel sample attachment method was developed and tested for the flight 
samples.   This thin film attachment scheme used double-sided adhesive transfer tape and Kapton tap for 
bonding, and sewn (mechanical) sample attachment.   This sample attachment scheme was flight tested and 
found to work very well. 
 
VI. References 
 
1Harvey, G. A., Humes, D. H., and Kinard, W. H., “Mir Environmental Effects Payload and Returned Mir Solar Panel 
Cleanliness,” Proc. SAMPE 44, 1999, pp 1038-1050. 
2Harvey, G. A., Humes, D. H., and Kinard, W. H., “Optical Characterization of Returned Mir Solar Cells,” AIAA Space 
Technology Conference and Exposition, 99-4488, 1999, 
3Visentine, J. et. Al., “Mir Solar Array Return Experiment,” 20th  AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, AIAA 98-
2697, 1999. 
4Harvey, G. A., Humes, D. H., and Kinard, W. H., “Shuttle and Mir Special Environmental Effects and Hardware 
Cleanliness,” High Performance Polymers,Vol. 12, 2000, pp 65-82. 
5Harvey, G. A., Kinard, W. H., and Wilson, L. A., “Outgassing of flown and Unflown Mir Solar Cells, Twenty-first 
Space Simulation Conference , Annapolis, MD, 2000, NASA/CP-2000-209967. 
6Soares, C. E. and Mikatarian, R. R., “Mir Contamination Observations and Implications to the International Space 
Station, Proc. Of SPIE, Vol.4096, 2000, pp 55-65. 
7Harvey, G. A. et. al., “Autononomous System for MISSE Temperature Measurements,” Space 2001 Conference and 
Exposition, AIAA 01-4557, Albuquerque, NM. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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