What are the long term effects of Space Weathering on man-made materials?

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I've read on Wikipedia about Space Weathering. It's described as the type of weathering that occurs to any object exposed to the harsh environment of outer space. Unlike on Earth, a man-made vessel wouldn't be affected by rain or wind. But the constant flux of high energy particles and micrometeorites.



If I've understood the article, it appears that over time Space Weather would darken man-made materials. But the article describes melting and vapor as well.



What would this look like over time? I assume painted surfaces would show the same weathering. Are there any examples of man-made devices where we've actually seen space weathering?










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    I've read on Wikipedia about Space Weathering. It's described as the type of weathering that occurs to any object exposed to the harsh environment of outer space. Unlike on Earth, a man-made vessel wouldn't be affected by rain or wind. But the constant flux of high energy particles and micrometeorites.



    If I've understood the article, it appears that over time Space Weather would darken man-made materials. But the article describes melting and vapor as well.



    What would this look like over time? I assume painted surfaces would show the same weathering. Are there any examples of man-made devices where we've actually seen space weathering?










    share|improve this question























      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite











      I've read on Wikipedia about Space Weathering. It's described as the type of weathering that occurs to any object exposed to the harsh environment of outer space. Unlike on Earth, a man-made vessel wouldn't be affected by rain or wind. But the constant flux of high energy particles and micrometeorites.



      If I've understood the article, it appears that over time Space Weather would darken man-made materials. But the article describes melting and vapor as well.



      What would this look like over time? I assume painted surfaces would show the same weathering. Are there any examples of man-made devices where we've actually seen space weathering?










      share|improve this question













      I've read on Wikipedia about Space Weathering. It's described as the type of weathering that occurs to any object exposed to the harsh environment of outer space. Unlike on Earth, a man-made vessel wouldn't be affected by rain or wind. But the constant flux of high energy particles and micrometeorites.



      If I've understood the article, it appears that over time Space Weather would darken man-made materials. But the article describes melting and vapor as well.



      What would this look like over time? I assume painted surfaces would show the same weathering. Are there any examples of man-made devices where we've actually seen space weathering?







      space-weather






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      asked 5 hours ago









      Maelish

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      354138




















          2 Answers
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          active

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          up vote
          4
          down vote













          There are four(ish) primary contributors to "space weathering" of any material (natural or synthetic) in space:



          1. Micrometeoroid and debris environment. This is the result of small stuff hitting the material in question. At possible collision speeds of up to 14 km/s everything becomes a bullet. The classic example is the pitted space shuttle window. Of course, a larger impact will lead to the ultimate "weathering"


          2. Outgassing. Also known as the "new car smell". Any object in a vacuum, will tend to outgas any volatiles. Your car outgases from some of its materials/binders/adhesives leadingto the distinctive smell. This is one of the reasons certain materials are frowned upon in spacecraft. Some plastics/foams will outgas themselves to nothingness. Others will just become brittle or crumbly. You'll often hear spacecraft engineers talk about Kapton tape - the duct tape of rocket scientists. Kapton is particularly stable in a vacuum (among other properties), and therefore is extensively used. In addition to potentially damaging the outgassing material due to mass loss, outgassed particles tend to deposit themselves in nearby cold surfaces - such as lenses and solar cell cover glasses.


          3. Atomic Oxygen. In the upper reaches of the atmosphere, roughly between 150 to 700 km, oxygen molecules (O2) disassociate into individual oxygen atoms (O). This atoms are highly reactive and like to bind (oxidize) to many other substances. This can result in erosion of of surfaces, darkening of optics, etc.

          4. Radiation (EM and particle). Radiation of all sorts can also affect materials. Polymers are again especially susceptible. the results can vary between changing optical properties (darkening, for instance) to structural changes. UV light, for instance, can slowly deteriorate plastics. Ever seen a car seat where the exposure to sunlight ultimately made the vinyl all crumbly and yucky? Some CubeSats have actually taking advantage of this. The antennas are held down in place before deployment by fishing line. Normally, the fishing line is melted to allow the antennas to deploy. If the melting, doesn't work, a backup is to wait until the UV light deteriorates the fishing line to the point where it breaks.

          Not surprisingly, NASA has carried out lots of experiments to study the effects of the space environment on materials. One of the earliest was the Pegasus program - where very large panels deployed form the service module (SM) stand-in of test Saturn I rockets. The panels were instrumented (with effectively a microphone) that counted impacts of micrometeoroids. Years later NASA flew the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). A bus-sized satellite completely enveloped in exterior panels with different materials to be tested.



          More recently NASA has flown several Materials Integration Space Station Experiment (MISSE) payloads to the space station. You can see the effects of Atomic Oxygen on the MISSE-2 mission in this incredible picture.






          share|improve this answer




















          • Excellent post! One small nit: the meteoroid environment includes impacts at velocities up to 70 km/s. 15 km/s pretty well envelopes the overwhelming majority of the debris environment, but meteoroids are a great deal faster.
            – Tristan
            2 hours ago

















          up vote
          3
          down vote













          The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was a Shuttle-launched and -retrieved satellite designed to investigate exactly this.



          Here is the LDEF in space.



          enter image description here



          It was covered in trays of different materials to investigate how they stood up in low Earth orbit.



          It was supposed to stay in orbit about a year, but the Challenger failure intervened, causing it to stay up for ~ 6 years.



          Source



          There was a conference called "LDEF Materials Results for Spacecraft Applications" in 1993, the proceedings are available online and are a gold mine of information about the results of the experiments.



          Conference proceedings



          Here's one example from the paper showing how atomic oxygen eroded Kapton multi-layer insulation.



          enter image description here



          This picture is from the LDEF retrieval mission, you can see some of the effects (peeling layers at the bottom end of the satellite, etc).



          enter image description here






          share|improve this answer


















          • 1




            Wow. Look at the difference on the scuff plate for the sill trunnion pin! Yellow at deployment, chocolate brown at retrieval. And nearly everything near it also turned brown.
            – Tristan
            1 hour ago











          • @Tristan I was going to mention that but I wasn't sure if lighting might be a contributor. My gut feel is that it's real though.
            – Organic Marble
            1 hour ago










          Your Answer




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          2 Answers
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          2 Answers
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          active

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          active

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          up vote
          4
          down vote













          There are four(ish) primary contributors to "space weathering" of any material (natural or synthetic) in space:



          1. Micrometeoroid and debris environment. This is the result of small stuff hitting the material in question. At possible collision speeds of up to 14 km/s everything becomes a bullet. The classic example is the pitted space shuttle window. Of course, a larger impact will lead to the ultimate "weathering"


          2. Outgassing. Also known as the "new car smell". Any object in a vacuum, will tend to outgas any volatiles. Your car outgases from some of its materials/binders/adhesives leadingto the distinctive smell. This is one of the reasons certain materials are frowned upon in spacecraft. Some plastics/foams will outgas themselves to nothingness. Others will just become brittle or crumbly. You'll often hear spacecraft engineers talk about Kapton tape - the duct tape of rocket scientists. Kapton is particularly stable in a vacuum (among other properties), and therefore is extensively used. In addition to potentially damaging the outgassing material due to mass loss, outgassed particles tend to deposit themselves in nearby cold surfaces - such as lenses and solar cell cover glasses.


          3. Atomic Oxygen. In the upper reaches of the atmosphere, roughly between 150 to 700 km, oxygen molecules (O2) disassociate into individual oxygen atoms (O). This atoms are highly reactive and like to bind (oxidize) to many other substances. This can result in erosion of of surfaces, darkening of optics, etc.

          4. Radiation (EM and particle). Radiation of all sorts can also affect materials. Polymers are again especially susceptible. the results can vary between changing optical properties (darkening, for instance) to structural changes. UV light, for instance, can slowly deteriorate plastics. Ever seen a car seat where the exposure to sunlight ultimately made the vinyl all crumbly and yucky? Some CubeSats have actually taking advantage of this. The antennas are held down in place before deployment by fishing line. Normally, the fishing line is melted to allow the antennas to deploy. If the melting, doesn't work, a backup is to wait until the UV light deteriorates the fishing line to the point where it breaks.

          Not surprisingly, NASA has carried out lots of experiments to study the effects of the space environment on materials. One of the earliest was the Pegasus program - where very large panels deployed form the service module (SM) stand-in of test Saturn I rockets. The panels were instrumented (with effectively a microphone) that counted impacts of micrometeoroids. Years later NASA flew the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). A bus-sized satellite completely enveloped in exterior panels with different materials to be tested.



          More recently NASA has flown several Materials Integration Space Station Experiment (MISSE) payloads to the space station. You can see the effects of Atomic Oxygen on the MISSE-2 mission in this incredible picture.






          share|improve this answer




















          • Excellent post! One small nit: the meteoroid environment includes impacts at velocities up to 70 km/s. 15 km/s pretty well envelopes the overwhelming majority of the debris environment, but meteoroids are a great deal faster.
            – Tristan
            2 hours ago














          up vote
          4
          down vote













          There are four(ish) primary contributors to "space weathering" of any material (natural or synthetic) in space:



          1. Micrometeoroid and debris environment. This is the result of small stuff hitting the material in question. At possible collision speeds of up to 14 km/s everything becomes a bullet. The classic example is the pitted space shuttle window. Of course, a larger impact will lead to the ultimate "weathering"


          2. Outgassing. Also known as the "new car smell". Any object in a vacuum, will tend to outgas any volatiles. Your car outgases from some of its materials/binders/adhesives leadingto the distinctive smell. This is one of the reasons certain materials are frowned upon in spacecraft. Some plastics/foams will outgas themselves to nothingness. Others will just become brittle or crumbly. You'll often hear spacecraft engineers talk about Kapton tape - the duct tape of rocket scientists. Kapton is particularly stable in a vacuum (among other properties), and therefore is extensively used. In addition to potentially damaging the outgassing material due to mass loss, outgassed particles tend to deposit themselves in nearby cold surfaces - such as lenses and solar cell cover glasses.


          3. Atomic Oxygen. In the upper reaches of the atmosphere, roughly between 150 to 700 km, oxygen molecules (O2) disassociate into individual oxygen atoms (O). This atoms are highly reactive and like to bind (oxidize) to many other substances. This can result in erosion of of surfaces, darkening of optics, etc.

          4. Radiation (EM and particle). Radiation of all sorts can also affect materials. Polymers are again especially susceptible. the results can vary between changing optical properties (darkening, for instance) to structural changes. UV light, for instance, can slowly deteriorate plastics. Ever seen a car seat where the exposure to sunlight ultimately made the vinyl all crumbly and yucky? Some CubeSats have actually taking advantage of this. The antennas are held down in place before deployment by fishing line. Normally, the fishing line is melted to allow the antennas to deploy. If the melting, doesn't work, a backup is to wait until the UV light deteriorates the fishing line to the point where it breaks.

          Not surprisingly, NASA has carried out lots of experiments to study the effects of the space environment on materials. One of the earliest was the Pegasus program - where very large panels deployed form the service module (SM) stand-in of test Saturn I rockets. The panels were instrumented (with effectively a microphone) that counted impacts of micrometeoroids. Years later NASA flew the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). A bus-sized satellite completely enveloped in exterior panels with different materials to be tested.



          More recently NASA has flown several Materials Integration Space Station Experiment (MISSE) payloads to the space station. You can see the effects of Atomic Oxygen on the MISSE-2 mission in this incredible picture.






          share|improve this answer




















          • Excellent post! One small nit: the meteoroid environment includes impacts at velocities up to 70 km/s. 15 km/s pretty well envelopes the overwhelming majority of the debris environment, but meteoroids are a great deal faster.
            – Tristan
            2 hours ago












          up vote
          4
          down vote










          up vote
          4
          down vote









          There are four(ish) primary contributors to "space weathering" of any material (natural or synthetic) in space:



          1. Micrometeoroid and debris environment. This is the result of small stuff hitting the material in question. At possible collision speeds of up to 14 km/s everything becomes a bullet. The classic example is the pitted space shuttle window. Of course, a larger impact will lead to the ultimate "weathering"


          2. Outgassing. Also known as the "new car smell". Any object in a vacuum, will tend to outgas any volatiles. Your car outgases from some of its materials/binders/adhesives leadingto the distinctive smell. This is one of the reasons certain materials are frowned upon in spacecraft. Some plastics/foams will outgas themselves to nothingness. Others will just become brittle or crumbly. You'll often hear spacecraft engineers talk about Kapton tape - the duct tape of rocket scientists. Kapton is particularly stable in a vacuum (among other properties), and therefore is extensively used. In addition to potentially damaging the outgassing material due to mass loss, outgassed particles tend to deposit themselves in nearby cold surfaces - such as lenses and solar cell cover glasses.


          3. Atomic Oxygen. In the upper reaches of the atmosphere, roughly between 150 to 700 km, oxygen molecules (O2) disassociate into individual oxygen atoms (O). This atoms are highly reactive and like to bind (oxidize) to many other substances. This can result in erosion of of surfaces, darkening of optics, etc.

          4. Radiation (EM and particle). Radiation of all sorts can also affect materials. Polymers are again especially susceptible. the results can vary between changing optical properties (darkening, for instance) to structural changes. UV light, for instance, can slowly deteriorate plastics. Ever seen a car seat where the exposure to sunlight ultimately made the vinyl all crumbly and yucky? Some CubeSats have actually taking advantage of this. The antennas are held down in place before deployment by fishing line. Normally, the fishing line is melted to allow the antennas to deploy. If the melting, doesn't work, a backup is to wait until the UV light deteriorates the fishing line to the point where it breaks.

          Not surprisingly, NASA has carried out lots of experiments to study the effects of the space environment on materials. One of the earliest was the Pegasus program - where very large panels deployed form the service module (SM) stand-in of test Saturn I rockets. The panels were instrumented (with effectively a microphone) that counted impacts of micrometeoroids. Years later NASA flew the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). A bus-sized satellite completely enveloped in exterior panels with different materials to be tested.



          More recently NASA has flown several Materials Integration Space Station Experiment (MISSE) payloads to the space station. You can see the effects of Atomic Oxygen on the MISSE-2 mission in this incredible picture.






          share|improve this answer












          There are four(ish) primary contributors to "space weathering" of any material (natural or synthetic) in space:



          1. Micrometeoroid and debris environment. This is the result of small stuff hitting the material in question. At possible collision speeds of up to 14 km/s everything becomes a bullet. The classic example is the pitted space shuttle window. Of course, a larger impact will lead to the ultimate "weathering"


          2. Outgassing. Also known as the "new car smell". Any object in a vacuum, will tend to outgas any volatiles. Your car outgases from some of its materials/binders/adhesives leadingto the distinctive smell. This is one of the reasons certain materials are frowned upon in spacecraft. Some plastics/foams will outgas themselves to nothingness. Others will just become brittle or crumbly. You'll often hear spacecraft engineers talk about Kapton tape - the duct tape of rocket scientists. Kapton is particularly stable in a vacuum (among other properties), and therefore is extensively used. In addition to potentially damaging the outgassing material due to mass loss, outgassed particles tend to deposit themselves in nearby cold surfaces - such as lenses and solar cell cover glasses.


          3. Atomic Oxygen. In the upper reaches of the atmosphere, roughly between 150 to 700 km, oxygen molecules (O2) disassociate into individual oxygen atoms (O). This atoms are highly reactive and like to bind (oxidize) to many other substances. This can result in erosion of of surfaces, darkening of optics, etc.

          4. Radiation (EM and particle). Radiation of all sorts can also affect materials. Polymers are again especially susceptible. the results can vary between changing optical properties (darkening, for instance) to structural changes. UV light, for instance, can slowly deteriorate plastics. Ever seen a car seat where the exposure to sunlight ultimately made the vinyl all crumbly and yucky? Some CubeSats have actually taking advantage of this. The antennas are held down in place before deployment by fishing line. Normally, the fishing line is melted to allow the antennas to deploy. If the melting, doesn't work, a backup is to wait until the UV light deteriorates the fishing line to the point where it breaks.

          Not surprisingly, NASA has carried out lots of experiments to study the effects of the space environment on materials. One of the earliest was the Pegasus program - where very large panels deployed form the service module (SM) stand-in of test Saturn I rockets. The panels were instrumented (with effectively a microphone) that counted impacts of micrometeoroids. Years later NASA flew the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). A bus-sized satellite completely enveloped in exterior panels with different materials to be tested.



          More recently NASA has flown several Materials Integration Space Station Experiment (MISSE) payloads to the space station. You can see the effects of Atomic Oxygen on the MISSE-2 mission in this incredible picture.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 4 hours ago









          Carlos N

          938211




          938211











          • Excellent post! One small nit: the meteoroid environment includes impacts at velocities up to 70 km/s. 15 km/s pretty well envelopes the overwhelming majority of the debris environment, but meteoroids are a great deal faster.
            – Tristan
            2 hours ago
















          • Excellent post! One small nit: the meteoroid environment includes impacts at velocities up to 70 km/s. 15 km/s pretty well envelopes the overwhelming majority of the debris environment, but meteoroids are a great deal faster.
            – Tristan
            2 hours ago















          Excellent post! One small nit: the meteoroid environment includes impacts at velocities up to 70 km/s. 15 km/s pretty well envelopes the overwhelming majority of the debris environment, but meteoroids are a great deal faster.
          – Tristan
          2 hours ago




          Excellent post! One small nit: the meteoroid environment includes impacts at velocities up to 70 km/s. 15 km/s pretty well envelopes the overwhelming majority of the debris environment, but meteoroids are a great deal faster.
          – Tristan
          2 hours ago










          up vote
          3
          down vote













          The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was a Shuttle-launched and -retrieved satellite designed to investigate exactly this.



          Here is the LDEF in space.



          enter image description here



          It was covered in trays of different materials to investigate how they stood up in low Earth orbit.



          It was supposed to stay in orbit about a year, but the Challenger failure intervened, causing it to stay up for ~ 6 years.



          Source



          There was a conference called "LDEF Materials Results for Spacecraft Applications" in 1993, the proceedings are available online and are a gold mine of information about the results of the experiments.



          Conference proceedings



          Here's one example from the paper showing how atomic oxygen eroded Kapton multi-layer insulation.



          enter image description here



          This picture is from the LDEF retrieval mission, you can see some of the effects (peeling layers at the bottom end of the satellite, etc).



          enter image description here






          share|improve this answer


















          • 1




            Wow. Look at the difference on the scuff plate for the sill trunnion pin! Yellow at deployment, chocolate brown at retrieval. And nearly everything near it also turned brown.
            – Tristan
            1 hour ago











          • @Tristan I was going to mention that but I wasn't sure if lighting might be a contributor. My gut feel is that it's real though.
            – Organic Marble
            1 hour ago














          up vote
          3
          down vote













          The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was a Shuttle-launched and -retrieved satellite designed to investigate exactly this.



          Here is the LDEF in space.



          enter image description here



          It was covered in trays of different materials to investigate how they stood up in low Earth orbit.



          It was supposed to stay in orbit about a year, but the Challenger failure intervened, causing it to stay up for ~ 6 years.



          Source



          There was a conference called "LDEF Materials Results for Spacecraft Applications" in 1993, the proceedings are available online and are a gold mine of information about the results of the experiments.



          Conference proceedings



          Here's one example from the paper showing how atomic oxygen eroded Kapton multi-layer insulation.



          enter image description here



          This picture is from the LDEF retrieval mission, you can see some of the effects (peeling layers at the bottom end of the satellite, etc).



          enter image description here






          share|improve this answer


















          • 1




            Wow. Look at the difference on the scuff plate for the sill trunnion pin! Yellow at deployment, chocolate brown at retrieval. And nearly everything near it also turned brown.
            – Tristan
            1 hour ago











          • @Tristan I was going to mention that but I wasn't sure if lighting might be a contributor. My gut feel is that it's real though.
            – Organic Marble
            1 hour ago












          up vote
          3
          down vote










          up vote
          3
          down vote









          The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was a Shuttle-launched and -retrieved satellite designed to investigate exactly this.



          Here is the LDEF in space.



          enter image description here



          It was covered in trays of different materials to investigate how they stood up in low Earth orbit.



          It was supposed to stay in orbit about a year, but the Challenger failure intervened, causing it to stay up for ~ 6 years.



          Source



          There was a conference called "LDEF Materials Results for Spacecraft Applications" in 1993, the proceedings are available online and are a gold mine of information about the results of the experiments.



          Conference proceedings



          Here's one example from the paper showing how atomic oxygen eroded Kapton multi-layer insulation.



          enter image description here



          This picture is from the LDEF retrieval mission, you can see some of the effects (peeling layers at the bottom end of the satellite, etc).



          enter image description here






          share|improve this answer














          The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was a Shuttle-launched and -retrieved satellite designed to investigate exactly this.



          Here is the LDEF in space.



          enter image description here



          It was covered in trays of different materials to investigate how they stood up in low Earth orbit.



          It was supposed to stay in orbit about a year, but the Challenger failure intervened, causing it to stay up for ~ 6 years.



          Source



          There was a conference called "LDEF Materials Results for Spacecraft Applications" in 1993, the proceedings are available online and are a gold mine of information about the results of the experiments.



          Conference proceedings



          Here's one example from the paper showing how atomic oxygen eroded Kapton multi-layer insulation.



          enter image description here



          This picture is from the LDEF retrieval mission, you can see some of the effects (peeling layers at the bottom end of the satellite, etc).



          enter image description here







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 4 hours ago

























          answered 4 hours ago









          Organic Marble

          48.1k2123205




          48.1k2123205







          • 1




            Wow. Look at the difference on the scuff plate for the sill trunnion pin! Yellow at deployment, chocolate brown at retrieval. And nearly everything near it also turned brown.
            – Tristan
            1 hour ago











          • @Tristan I was going to mention that but I wasn't sure if lighting might be a contributor. My gut feel is that it's real though.
            – Organic Marble
            1 hour ago












          • 1




            Wow. Look at the difference on the scuff plate for the sill trunnion pin! Yellow at deployment, chocolate brown at retrieval. And nearly everything near it also turned brown.
            – Tristan
            1 hour ago











          • @Tristan I was going to mention that but I wasn't sure if lighting might be a contributor. My gut feel is that it's real though.
            – Organic Marble
            1 hour ago







          1




          1




          Wow. Look at the difference on the scuff plate for the sill trunnion pin! Yellow at deployment, chocolate brown at retrieval. And nearly everything near it also turned brown.
          – Tristan
          1 hour ago





          Wow. Look at the difference on the scuff plate for the sill trunnion pin! Yellow at deployment, chocolate brown at retrieval. And nearly everything near it also turned brown.
          – Tristan
          1 hour ago













          @Tristan I was going to mention that but I wasn't sure if lighting might be a contributor. My gut feel is that it's real though.
          – Organic Marble
          1 hour ago




          @Tristan I was going to mention that but I wasn't sure if lighting might be a contributor. My gut feel is that it's real though.
          – Organic Marble
          1 hour ago

















           

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