Polymers

What this is

Plastics and films, from polyimide thermal blankets to fluoropolymer coatings.

They are light, flexible and cheap, which is why they cover so much of a spacecraft. Their weakness is the space environment: atomic oxygen, ultraviolet light and radiation can eat or embrittle them.

Collections

Grades of one kind compared side by side.

• Engineering polymers: Engineering polymers (PEEK, nylon, POM, polycarbonate, PTFE and others): strength, temperature limits and data with sources.

Types

Pick a type to see its materials.

What matters

The measurements we use to compare polymers. Each one has a standard test and a direction: is higher or lower better?

Benchmarks

• Atomic oxygen erosion benchmark. Polymers flown outside the International Space Station, ranked by how fast atomic oxygen erodes them (NASA MISSE 2).

Materials