Pt. Chen et Rj. Hedgeland, CONTAMINATION EFFECTS ON THE GEOSTATIONARY OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE INSTRUMENT THERMAL CONTROL-SYSTEM, Journal of thermophysics and heat transfer, 11(3), 1997, pp. 467-471
The instrument thermal control system of the Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite may have been affected by specific contaminat
ion problems that arose because of the unique conditions and requireme
nts of the spacecraft mission. This paper addresses some specific cont
amination effects from the coatings used in the instrument cavities, C
ontamination control actions that were implemented during ground proce
ssing to ensure limited impact on the on-orbit temperature control are
described, The selection of thermal coatings is an integral part of t
he overall spacecraft design. Molecular contamination accretion on the
rmal coatings may alter the design properties of the surface coatings,
In an effort to quantify the molecular contamination effects from mat
erial outgassing, an assessment was conducted to address the concerns
inside the instrument cavities. The study results prompted an extensiv
e prelaunch vacuum bakeout effort and an on-orbit solar radiation avoi
dance exercise, In addition, the thermal performance of the instrument
radiant coolers could have been detrimentally affected by scattered s
olar radiation from particulate contamination, To mitigate the impact
of the particulate contamination the radiant cooler surfaces were clea
ned to an established criteria prior to launch.