Moisture effects and control for the UVCS composite structure

Abstract

The Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrograph (UVCS) is an optical instrument to be flown on the European spacecraft Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to the sun-earth L1 point. The stability requirements of the instrument require the moisture content of the pseudoisotropic composite material not to exceed 0.06 percent during alignment and calibration. This paper describes the steps necessary to meet this requirement. These steps include a dynamic moisture content analysis, selection of bake out conditions and moisture controls, verification sampling, and use of witness specimens to monitor the moisture content during the prelaunch life of the structure.