An instrument to measure total integrated scattering (TIS) in space was built as part of the Optical Properties Monitor instrument package and flown on the Russian Mir Space Station in a low Earth orbit. TIS at two wavelengths was measured in space at approximately weekly intervals from 29 April to 26 December 1997 and telemetered to Earth during the mission. Of the 20 TIS samples, 13 are described here to illustrate the performance of the TIS instrument. These include ten optical samples and three thermal control samples. Two optical samples and one thermal control sample were severely degraded by atomic oxygen. All samples received a light dusting of particles during the mission and an additional heavier layer after the samples returned to Earth. The initial brassboard instrument and the validation tests of the flight instrument are also described.
The stability of materials used in the space environment continues to be a limiting technology for space missions. This technology is important to all users of space and particularly the International Space Station (155). The Optical Properties Monitor (OPM) and the Space Portable SpectroReflectometer (SPSR) experiments were performed on the Russian Mir Station to study the long term effects ofthe natural and induced space environment on materials.The OPM was deployed on the exterior of the Mir Docking Module on April 29, 1997 and remained until retrieval in January 1998. The OPM exposed test materials to the Mir space environment and measured the effects of this exposure using on-board optical instruments. These instruments included an integrating sphere spectral reflectometer and a two color Total Integrated Scatter (TIS) instrument. The OPM also monitored selected components of the environment including molecular contamination using a pair of Temperature-controlled Quartz Crystal Microbalances (TQCM).The SPSR is a hand-held Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) instrument that was used by an EVA crew to measure the optical properties of Mir thermal radiator surfaces after many years of operational use in space. The SPSR is an integrating sphere spectral reflectometer similar to the OPM reflectometer.
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