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Outgassing
Outgassing of materials in thermal vacuum and CME
To qualify materials for their suitability for space applications, assessment of outgassing properties is required. “Outgassing” is defined as the mass loss of a sample due to thermal vacuum conditioning. AAC offers outgassing tests in accordance to the ESA standards ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C (“Thermal vacuum outgassing test for the screening of space materials”), ASTM E595 (“Standard Test Method for Total Mass Loss and Collected Volatile Condensable Materials from Outgassing in a Vacuum Environment”) and ECSS-Q-TM-70-52A (“kinetic outgassing of materials for space”). A facility to analyze mass transport of materials (in-situ mass loss in thermal vacuum, redeposition, evaporation, including material identification) is available at AAC.
For some spacecraft components, not only mass loss but the length change due to outgassing – the Coefficient of Moisture Expansion (CME) – needs to be evaluated as well. A facility to measure mass loss and length change with high accuracy is available at AAC.