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Preliminary flight data from the Materials Exposure and Degredation Experiment (MEDET)

Preliminary flight data from the Materials Exposure and Degredation Experiment (MEDET)
Preliminary flight data from the Materials Exposure and Degredation Experiment (MEDET)
The Materials Exposure and Degradation Experiment (MEDET) was recently launched to the ISS on Space Shuttle Flight IE, as part of the EuTEF payload on the external payload facility of ESA's Columbus module. The experiment will operate in-orbit for at least 1.5 years, and has the overall objectives of evaluating the effects of the complex low Earth orbit space environment on material properties, investigating material degradation due to contamination, characterising the local ISS environment and measuring the local micro-particle flux. This paper gives a brief overview of the experiment function and the material samples which are being exposed, before presenting some of the early flight data. In this phase of the mission, all of the instruments are operating successfully, and continuously acquiring data. The preliminary results mainly concern the environmental sensors, which are operating at relatively high acquisition rates (e.g. one reading every few seconds). It has been shown that the docking of the Space Shuttle to the ISS has a significant effect on the local pressure environment. The more complex degradation experiments are acquiring at much slower rates (e.g. one reading per day) and several more months of space exposure will be required before sufficient data is generated to reach conclusions about the behaviour of the materials. However, preliminary data is presented.
9780735406193
195-206
Springer
Tighe, A.P.
1c3c36f8-a722-4f45-90be-ce536d319ec8
van Eesbeek, M.
4433c88d-40e0-40c5-b4fc-a7132dfda37e
Duzellier, S.
3f538a64-cbec-4fb0-a2d8-17964359122d
Dinguirard, M.
f2110eb4-8f91-4c09-ab9f-1af8cb2bbc92
Falguere, D.
168ece1b-b18e-4f73-b056-5dd3bf1460bf
Pons, C.
effa3b6a-9582-48b1-8ffd-500b96a3c3d6
Inguimbert, V.
608acbc3-ea07-4695-a002-b6c1c27bea8d
Durin, C.
f8712cf7-2bb1-43f0-8788-73b709b4c151
Gabriel, S.
ac76976d-74fd-40a0-808d-c9f68a38f259
Goulty, D.
6939bfac-c14f-4554-870b-df752593a9b3
Roberts, G.T.
deaf59ac-e4ee-4fc2-accf-df0639d39368
Kleiman, Jacob I.
Tighe, A.P.
1c3c36f8-a722-4f45-90be-ce536d319ec8
van Eesbeek, M.
4433c88d-40e0-40c5-b4fc-a7132dfda37e
Duzellier, S.
3f538a64-cbec-4fb0-a2d8-17964359122d
Dinguirard, M.
f2110eb4-8f91-4c09-ab9f-1af8cb2bbc92
Falguere, D.
168ece1b-b18e-4f73-b056-5dd3bf1460bf
Pons, C.
effa3b6a-9582-48b1-8ffd-500b96a3c3d6
Inguimbert, V.
608acbc3-ea07-4695-a002-b6c1c27bea8d
Durin, C.
f8712cf7-2bb1-43f0-8788-73b709b4c151
Gabriel, S.
ac76976d-74fd-40a0-808d-c9f68a38f259
Goulty, D.
6939bfac-c14f-4554-870b-df752593a9b3
Roberts, G.T.
deaf59ac-e4ee-4fc2-accf-df0639d39368
Kleiman, Jacob I.

Tighe, A.P., van Eesbeek, M., Duzellier, S., Dinguirard, M., Falguere, D., Pons, C., Inguimbert, V., Durin, C., Gabriel, S., Goulty, D. and Roberts, G.T. (2009) Preliminary flight data from the Materials Exposure and Degredation Experiment (MEDET). In, Kleiman, Jacob I. (ed.) Protection of Materials and Structures from the Space Environment. (AIP Conference Proceedings - Materials Physics and Applications, 1087) Springer, pp. 195-206. (doi:10.1063/1.3076834).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

The Materials Exposure and Degradation Experiment (MEDET) was recently launched to the ISS on Space Shuttle Flight IE, as part of the EuTEF payload on the external payload facility of ESA's Columbus module. The experiment will operate in-orbit for at least 1.5 years, and has the overall objectives of evaluating the effects of the complex low Earth orbit space environment on material properties, investigating material degradation due to contamination, characterising the local ISS environment and measuring the local micro-particle flux. This paper gives a brief overview of the experiment function and the material samples which are being exposed, before presenting some of the early flight data. In this phase of the mission, all of the instruments are operating successfully, and continuously acquiring data. The preliminary results mainly concern the environmental sensors, which are operating at relatively high acquisition rates (e.g. one reading every few seconds). It has been shown that the docking of the Space Shuttle to the ISS has a significant effect on the local pressure environment. The more complex degradation experiments are acquiring at much slower rates (e.g. one reading per day) and several more months of space exposure will be required before sufficient data is generated to reach conclusions about the behaviour of the materials. However, preliminary data is presented.

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More information

Published date: 2009
Organisations: Aerodynamics & Flight Mechanics

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 155277
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/155277
ISBN: 9780735406193
PURE UUID: dff4ce9f-a55b-44ad-bc35-074c49b90286

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Date deposited: 01 Jun 2010 09:23
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:38

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Contributors

Author: A.P. Tighe
Author: M. van Eesbeek
Author: S. Duzellier
Author: M. Dinguirard
Author: D. Falguere
Author: C. Pons
Author: V. Inguimbert
Author: C. Durin
Author: S. Gabriel
Author: D. Goulty
Author: G.T. Roberts
Editor: Jacob I. Kleiman

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