Thermal Contributions to the Degradation of Teflon(TM)RG FEP on the Hubble Space Telescope

Metallized Teflon(TM) fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) thermal control material on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is degrading in the space environment. Teflon(TM)RG FEP insulation was retrieved during servicing missions, which occurred in 1993, 1997 and 1999. During the second servicing missi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:High performance polymers 2001-09, Vol.13 (3), p.S401-S420
Main Authors: De Groh, Kim K, Dever, Joyce A, Sutter, James K, Gaier, James R, Gummow, Jonathan D, Scheiman, Daniel A, He, Charles
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Metallized Teflon(TM) fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) thermal control material on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is degrading in the space environment. Teflon(TM)RG FEP insulation was retrieved during servicing missions, which occurred in 1993, 1997 and 1999. During the second servicing mission (SM2), the 5 mil aluminized-FEP (Al-FEP) outer layer of multilayer insulation (MLI) covering the telescope was found to be cracked in many locations around the telescope. Teflon(TM) FEP retrieved during SM2 was more embrittled than the FEP retrieved 2.8 years later from a different location, during the third servicing mission (SM3A). Studies have been conducted to understand the degradation of FEP on HST, and the difference in the degree of degradation of FEP from each of the servicing missions. The retrieved SM2 material experienced a higher temperature extreme during thermal cycling (200 DGC) than the first servicing mission (SM1) and SM3A materials (upper temperature of 50 DGC).
ISSN:0954-0083
DOI:10.1177/095400830101300315