Spacecraft contamination: active cleaning and control

Charles Stein; Thomas R. King; Warren G. Wilson; R. Robertson

doi:10.1117/12.328520

27 October 1998 Spacecraft contamination: active cleaning and control

Charles Stein, Thomas R. King, Warren G. Wilson, R. Robertson

Proceedings Volume 3427, Optical Systems Contamination and Degradation; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.328520
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1998, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

Critical surfaces on satellites operating int he low earth orbit can be contaminated by molecular species emanating from the spacecraft itself and from hypervelocity debris impacts. Consequently, on-board procedures are necessary to limit the contamination to levels below specified thicknesses in order to achieve the operational requirements of solar panels, thermal management materials, thermal radiators and optical systems. We demonstrate that our recently discovered phenomenon of the acceleration of the atomic oxygen erosion of organic molecular species by the simultaneous super-position of an electrostatic charge on the substrate, can be used to clean organic contaminants off critical surfaces in space.

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Charles Stein, Thomas R. King, Warren G. Wilson, and R. Robertson "Spacecraft contamination: active cleaning and control", Proc. SPIE 3427, Optical Systems Contamination and Degradation, (27 October 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.328520

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