Silver Teflon blanket: LDEF tray C-08

Abstract

A study of the Teflon blanket surface at the edge of tray C-08 illustrates the complexity of the microenvironments on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). The distribution of particulate contaminants varied dramatically over a distance of half a centimeter (quarter of an inch) near the edge of the blanket. The geometry and optical effects of the atomic oxygen erosion varied significantly over the few centimeters where the blanket folded over the edge of the tray resulting in a variety of orientations to the atomic oxygen flux. A very complex region of combined mechanical and atomic oxygen damage occurred where the blanket contacted the edge of the tray. A brown film deposit apparently fixed by ultraviolet light traveling by reflection through the Teflon film was conspicuous beyond the tray contract zone. Chemical and structural analysis of the surface of the brown film and beyond toward the protected edge of the blanket indicated some penetration of energetic atomic oxygen at least five millimeters past the blanket-tray contact interface.