Simulated Space Environment Effects on a Candidate Solar Sail Material

For long duration missions of solar sails, the sail material needs to survive harsh space environments and the degradation of the sail material controls operational lifetime. Therefore, understanding the effects of the space environment on the sail membrane is essential for mission success. In this...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI). Reports
Main Authors Kang, Jin Ho, Bryant, Robert G, Wilkie, W Keats, Wadsworth, Heather M, Craven, Paul D, Nehls, Mary K, Vaughn, Jason A
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published Hampton NASA/Langley Research Center 17.01.2017
Subjects
Aerospace environments
Aging (metallurgy)
Aluminum
Degradation
Emittance
Environmental effects
Feasibility studies
High energy electrons
Impact damage
Ionizing radiation
Mechanical properties
Metallizing
Missions
Modulus of elasticity
Optical properties
Physical properties
Polyethylene naphthalate
Radiation damage
Simulation
Solar sails
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Summary:For long duration missions of solar sails, the sail material needs to survive harsh space environments and the degradation of the sail material controls operational lifetime. Therefore, understanding the effects of the space environment on the sail membrane is essential for mission success. In this study, we investigated the effect of simulated space environment effects of ionizing radiation, thermal aging and simulated potential damage on mechanical, thermal and optical properties of a commercial off the shelf (COTS) polyester solar sail membrane to assess the degradation mechanisms on a feasible solar sail. The solar sail membrane was exposed to high energy electrons (about 70 keV and 10 nA/cm2), and the physical properties were characterized. After about 8.3 Grad dose, the tensile modulus, tensile strength and failure strain of the sail membrane decreased by about 20 ~ 95%. The aluminum reflective layer was damaged and partially delaminated but it did not show any significant change in solar absorbance or thermal emittance. The effect on mechanical properties of a pre-cracked sample, simulating potential impact damage of the sail membrane, as well as thermal aging effects on metallized PEN (polyethylene naphthalate) film will be discussed.