The predominant species in the plume residue resulting from the incomplete combustion of MMH and N 2 O 4 during the pulse mode operation of the bipropellant motors has been found to be monomethylhydrazine nitrate (MMH-HNO 3 ). At orbital altitude, it is also the most detrimental condensible matter as other species in the plume product or unburned propellant droplets have vapor pressures too high to be of concern. Quantitative data on contamination effects from the MMH/N 2 O 4 thrusters in pulse mode operations are limited. This paper reports experiments in which several types of thermal control surfaces were systematically contaminated with a range of amounts of synthesized MMH-HNO 3 , after which the resulting change in solar absorptance was measured. Limited experiments were also made to measure the change of solar transmittance of fused silica disks.
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