Effects on advanced materials: results of the STS-8 EOIM (effects of oxygen interaction with materials) experiment
Abstract : A variety of materials were exposed to the low Earth orbit space environment on shuttle flight STS-8 as a part of NASA's Effects of Oxygen Atoms Interaction with Materials experiment. These materials include carbon and graphites, optical materials, organic and metal films, Kevlar and fiberglass fabric, and high-temperature coatings. The effects noted on these materials included oxidative erosion of the carbon and graphite, loss of tensile strength for the Kevlar fabric, erosion and oxidation of organic films, partial oxidation of infrared optical materials, and loss of reflectance for the high-temperature coatings. Keywords: Atomic oxygen, Auger analysis, Carbon fibers, Fiberglass, Fourier transform infrared specTroscopy, Graphite, High temperature coatings, Infrared optical coatings.