Mary Sandy

Headquarters, Washington, D.C. February 13, 1990

(Phone: 202/453-2754) Embargoed until 11 A.M. EST

Jean Drummond Clough

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
(Phone: 804/864-6122)

RELEASE: 90-23

CLOSE-UP INSPECTION OF LONG DURATION EXPOSURE FACILITY

BEGINS

NASA officials and principal scientific investigators making

their first close inspection of the Long Duration Exposure
Facility (LDEF) at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., report that the
spacecraft looks much like they expected and hoped for after its
extended stay in space.

LDEF's 57 experiments provide a unique opportunity to study

significant long-term effects of spaceflight on a broad range of
materials and components, as well as on living organisms. The
spacecraft was retrieved by the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia on
January 12.

LDEF's exterior shows obvious effects from nearly 6-years'

exposure to bombardment by micrometeoroids and orbital debris,
atomic oxygen impingement and the Sun's ultraviolet rays. LDEF
will provide unprecedented data on the changes caused by the
combination of these environmental parameters, because accurate
simulations of the complex space environment are difficult to
perform on Earth. These and other effects will be evaluated in
detail once LDEF's experiments are removed for subsequent testing
and analysis.

Discolorations or physical changes appear on many of LDEF's

thermal control and optical surface experiments. There seems to
be a significant contrast between the surfaces on the leading
edge (facing the direction of flight) and those on the trailing
edge. One major difference between these two sides of LDEF is
the high exposure to atomic oxygen on the leading edge and very
low exposure on the trailing edge. Many of the materials appear
as expected for this extended exposure, while others look either
more or less degraded compared to preflight estimates.

- more -

-2 -

Observation of solar array and structural materials on

LDEF's leading edge and surrounding rows reveals that all
unprotected Kapton thin-film insulation appears to have eroded
away. This Kapton erosion is responsible for the disappearance
of three solar cell modules and a number of 1-mil polymer film
materials on the Solar Array Materials Passive LDEF Experiment
(SAMPLE). Kapton films protected with silicone coatings seem to
have survived prolonged exposure to atomic oxygen, however, along
with some silverized reflectors protected with ionic bonded
solids. Researchers are somewhat surprised that observations
show white Tedlar is intact, and that Kevlar 29 and 49 appear
eroded, but whole.

Two effects seen on SAMPLE and several other experiments are

not understood at this time. Unbonded silvered teflon thermal
blankets appear white, while the silvered teflon bonded to
metallic substrates appears tarnished. Elastomer materials,
typically used as seals, have greatly discolored. Some surface
erosion occurred on the carbon fiber-epoxy matrix composite
materials. Even though space debris impacts on the experiment's
solar cells appear to be numerous, few of the cells look broken.

The Thermal Control Surfaces Experiment (TCSE) is a

once-active experiment that performed periodic in-space optical
properties measurements of exposed thermal control and optical
surfaces during LDEF's initial 15-18 months in space. This
experiment will provide a record of the condition of the test
materials during that period, and postflight laboratory analysis
of the samples will determine any subsequent damage. In
addition, the TCSE will be evaluated as a means to obtain
important knowledge on the effects of long-term space exposure on
complex optical, electronic and mechanical instrumentation.
 The Chemical and Isotopic Measurements of Micrometeoroids by
Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry measured isotopic composition of
interplanetary dust. A special capture cell on the front of LDEF
and two capture cells on the back collected vapor and debris
fragments from impacts. When particles penetrated the foils,
they should have "exploded" on hitting the plates beneath,
producing a plume of vapor and debris that would redeposit on the
underside of the plastic.

Unfortunately, many capture cells suffered catastrophic

rupture of the thin entrance plastic films during LDEF's
longer-than-planned sojourn in space. But if the plastic was in
place when impacts occurred, there should be a spray of vapor and
debris on the germanium plates that can be analyzed. The initial
look from about six feet away shows at least half of the
front-facing cells have visible impacts; at the microscopic level
there probably will be many more. The knowledge gained from LDEF
will be used to design a more complex interplanetary dust
experiment, one that will differentiate between dust from comets
and asteroids, for Space Station Freedom.
- more -
-3 -

The Heavy Ions in Space (HIIS) experiment used plastic track

detectors to measure the abundance of chemical elements in cosmic
radiation. The experiment should offer new insights into the
origin of chemical elements and may show how the elemental
composition of the Solar System differs from that of the rest of
the galaxy. The data also will improve our knowledge of
radiation hazards faced by astronauts and by modern
micro-electronic components in space.

On seven of the eight HIIS modules, multilayer insulation

thermal blankets partially detached and rolled up while LDEF was
in orbit. The loss of temperature control and exposure of some
of the detector material to direct sunlight probably resulted in
some data loss. The thermal blanket on the eighth HIIS module is
largely intact and may have preserved the data in that module.

Still another experiment, Space Exposed Experiment Developed

for Students (SEEDS), looks good and all hardware is intact on
the tray, suggesting that the seeds have been protected as
planned. After preliminary growth tests, the 12.5 million tomato
seeds that flew aboard LDEF will be distributed to U.S. students
in grades 5 through university for use in classroom research.

Experiment trays will be removed from LDEF around February

22 and delivered to the principal investigators. By the end of
April, all experiments should be in the hands of the
investigators and analyses of the experiments underway.

Results from the LDEF mission will furnish invaluable data

for design of future space structures, such as Space Station
Freedom, as well as insight into Earth's cosmic origins.

- end -

TO: MDS/PRA Group

1615 L Street, N.W. - Suite 100
Washington, D.C. 20036

DATE & TIME: FEBRUARY 13,1990. 2:56pm

ORDERED BY: Edward Campion

NASA Headquarters/LMD
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20546 PHONE: 202/453-8400

PROJECT TITLE: Release No: 90-23

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MAIL DATE: FEBRUARY 14, 1990

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