A fast and accurate method for the empirical evaluation of the degassing characteristics of materials and supplies carried aboard a space capsule is described. The proposed procedure utilizes 72-liter flasks as reaction chambers. Materials to be tested were introduced into one group of flasks for a period of 30 to 60 days. The flasks were maintained under temperature, pressure, and lighting conditions expected to prevail within the spacecraft. Parallel experiments were conducted over a 24-hour period at a flask temperature of 120°F obtained by irradiation of the flask with mercury vapor lamps. At regular, predetermined intervals the flask atmospheres -were tested for outgassed contaminants by gas chromatography in conjunction with infrared spectroscopy. Several examples of test results are presented. They indicate that different temperatures did not affect the reaction mechanism involved in the outgassing processes. The type of products which had outgassed remained the same; and, as expected, only the quantity of released products was higher at higher temperatures
