Effect of Atmosphere on Recovery Dynamics of Polyimide Film Damaged by Electron Radiation

Since electrons are the primary charged particles at the geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), understanding of their interactions with spacecraft materials, such as polyimide (PI, Kapton-H®), is important. Understanding of the chemical nature of electron damage and its effect on PI's electrical and optical properties is still limited. Thus, predictive spacecraft models (electrical charging, thermal, etc) are restricted to only pristine material properties. This is a major source of error in spacecraft construction and anomaly resolution, since material properties change after exposure to the space environment. Ground based measurements are critical to understanding the dynamics of spacecraft materials however it will be shown in this work that standard material handling practice and exposure to air are unacceptable for these studies. (paper)