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Publications in Scientific Journals:

M. Fink, E. Semerad, G. Mozden, J. Wendrinsky, G. Hulla, R. Kolm, I. Gebeshuber, H. Störi, B. Dunn, M. Eesbeek, T. Rohr, M. Moser:
"Characterisation of Teflon FEP (HST, LDEF) following long term exposure to Leo";
European Space Agency, (Special Publication) ESA SP, 616 (2006), 09/2006; 1 - 8.



English abstract:
The aging of TeflonŽ FEP (flourinated ethylene - propylene), an often used exterior spacecraft layer for thermal control in the low Earth orbit (LEO) environment, was determined. Therefore, changes of the morphology of the surface (light microscope), the topography of the surface (3d-profilometry, AFM), mechanical properties (AFM and micro - hardness) as well as the surface composition (ESCA, FTIR and XRD) with samples mounted on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF, 5.8 years in space) and with foils brought back to earth from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST, 3.6 and 8.25 years in space resp.) were performed.
The findings indicate that the chemical change during space exposure is marginal and for this reason hard to detect, but strong enough to cause mechanical embrittlement.\

Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.