LDEF Update

Abstract

This video explores the research being done on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), a satellite carrying 57 experiments designed to study the effects of the space environment, which had been in orbit for almost 6 years, and was retrieved and brought back to Earth by the Space Shuttle astronauts. The video shows scenes of the retrieval of LDEF, as well as scenes of ongoing research into the data returned with the satellite from experiments on external coating, contamination of optical materials by thermal control paint, the effects of cosmic rays on different materials, and the effect of the space environment on 12 million tomato seeds that have since been planted.