Materials/Polymers/Polyolefins
PE
misse2-peIn short
On the International Space Station's forward-facing side, oxygen atoms ate away more than 315 µm of PE in 3.95 years, at least 80 µm a year. The sample was eroded all the way through before the flight ended, so the real loss was larger. A standard 25 µm film of it would last at most about 4 months there. It erodes at least 1.2 times faster than Kapton H, the reference film.
Benchmarks
The benchmarks that matter for this material's applications, each compared with the reference engineers use.
| Benchmark | Result | Compared with reference |
|---|---|---|
| Atomic oxygen erosionHow fast low-orbit oxygen eats the surface. Lower is better. | >3.74×10⁻²⁴ cm³/atomLow Earth orbit, 3.95 years in flight | >1.25× Kapton HErodes at least 1.2× faster |
Not measured yet (5): darkening under UV and particles (Δα); radiation shielding per mass; outgassing, total mass loss (TML); thermal cycling survival; flammability (crewed vehicles).
Applications
Where materials like PE are considered, the benchmarks that decide each use, and what the measured data says so far.
| Application | Deciding benchmarks | What the data says |
|---|---|---|
| External surfaces in low Earth orbit1 of 2 deciding benchmarks measured |
| Atomic oxygen resistance is poor (over 1.25×): unprotected, it wears through quickly on forward-facing low-orbit surfaces and would need a protective coating. Still needed: darkening under UV and particles (Δα). |
| Radiation shielding0 of 1 deciding benchmarks measured |
| None of the deciding benchmarks are measured yet. |
"What the data says" is Space Mushroom's reading of the measured values, not a flight qualification. Deciding benchmarks come from the Benchmark Framework.
What it went through
| Where | ISS, MISSE 2, PEC 2 tray 1 (outside the Quest airlock) |
|---|---|
| When | 2001-08-16 to 2005-07-30 (3.95 years) |
| Atomic oxygen dose | 8.43×10²¹ atoms/cm² |
| Sunlight | 5,000–6,700 equivalent sun hours |
| Temperature | Cycled between −30 °C and 40 °C |
| Also exposed to | Solar UV and charged particle radiation, in vacuum |
How it compares
Materials flown on the same tray, ranked from least to most eroded. PE is number 31 of 40.
| Rank | Material | Compared with Kapton H | Lost in 3.95 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | FEPFluorinated ethylene propylene | 0.067× | 17 µm |
| 25 | Kapton HPolyimide (PMDA) | 1.00× | 253 µm |
| 29 | PEIPolyetherimide | >1.10× | >279 µm |
| 30 | PA 6Polyamide 6 (nylon 6) | 1.17× | 296 µm |
| 31 | PEPolyethylene | >1.25× | >315 µm |
| 32 | PSPolystyrene | 1.25× | 315 µm |
| 33 | EPEpoxide or epoxy | 1.40× | 355 µm |
How the numbers are calculated
- Erosion yield is NASA's measurement: volume of material removed per oxygen atom.
- Thickness lost = erosion yield × oxygen dose = 3.74×10⁻²⁴ cm³/atom × 8.43×10²¹ atoms/cm² = 0.0315 cm = 315 µm.
- Compared with Kapton H = erosion yield ÷ 3.00×10⁻²⁴ (Kapton H's value on the same flight).
- Film life = 25 µm ÷ 80 µm per year, for the same exposure.
Full record
The complete spore, as stored. Free to reuse under CC-BY-4.0.
spore: passport
id: misse2-pe
spore_version: 0.1
status: measured
org: nasa
dataset: misse2-peace
material:
name: "Polyethylene"
abbreviation: "PE"
family: Other polymer
category: polymers
type: polyolefins
tags:
environments: [low-earth-orbit]
stresses: [atomic-oxygen, uv, total-radiation-dose, thermal-cycling, vacuum-and-outgassing]
applications: []
exposures:
- environment: low Earth orbit
platform: ISS, MISSE 2, PEC 2 tray 1 (outside the Quest airlock)
start: 2001-08-16
end: 2005-07-30
duration_years: 3.95
atomic_oxygen_fluence: {value: 8.43e21, unit: atoms/cm2}
solar_exposure: {value: "5000-6700", unit: equivalent sun hours}
thermal_cycling: {min_c: -30, max_c: 40, note: nominal base-plate range}
results:
- property: atomic oxygen erosion yield
value: 3.74e-24
unit: cm3/atom
lower_bound: true # sample eroded through; true yield is higher
sources:
- title: Atomic Oxygen Erosion Yield Predictive Tool for Spacecraft Polymers in Low Earth Orbit
id: NASA/TM-2008-215490 (Banks, Backus and de Groh, December 2008)
url: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20090011780
where: Table I; exposure details in section 2.1
license: CC-BY-4.0
Sources
- Atomic Oxygen Erosion Yield Predictive Tool for Spacecraft Polymers in Low Earth Orbit. NASA/TM-2008-215490 (Banks, Backus and de Groh, December 2008), Table I; exposure details in section 2.1.