LOW-EARTH-ORBIT ATOMIC OXYGEN EROSION OF POLYMER SURFACES

Spacecraft in low Earth orbit (250-700 km altitude) encounter a residu al atmosphere that is 90% atomic oxygen in its ground electronic state produced by the solar uv photodissociation of molecular oxygen, At a relative velocity of 8 km s(-1) , an observer on tile spacecraft at an altitude of 300 km experiences an average flux of 10(15) oxygen atoms cm(-2) s(-1) approaching in the ram direction with a relative kinetic energy of 5 eV. When exposed to this flux, vitreous carbon, polymers, and many polymer-based composite materials suffer surface erosion. Up on microscopic examination,, the roughened surface is seen to consist of troughs and points that have a shag-carpet appearance, We show that , when a target atom has weak bonds tangential to the surface, the imp act energy of the incident O atom rapidly dissipates into tile bulk of the solid,and the target atom cannot react, This produces a point, By contrast, when tangential bonds are strong, tile reverse occurs, and a trough results, The anisotropic bonding an which this model depends can be found in both polymers and vitreous materials.