PMMA
misse2-pmmaIn short
On the International Space Station's forward-facing side, oxygen atoms ate away more than 472 µm of PMMA in 3.95 years, at least 120 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 3 months there. It erodes at least 1.9 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. | >5.60×10⁻²⁴ cm³/atomLow Earth orbit, 3.95 years in flight | >1.87× Kapton HErodes at least 1.9× faster |
Not measured yet (3): darkening under UV and particles (Δα); outgassing, total mass loss (TML); thermal cycling survival.
Applications
Where materials like PMMA 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 1.87×): 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). |
"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. PMMA is number 36 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 |
| 34 | PCPolycarbonate | 1.43× | 362 µm |
| 35 | CACellulose acetate | 1.68× | 426 µm |
| 36 | PMMAPolymethyl methacrylate | >1.87× | >472 µm |
| 37 | CR-39Allyl diglycol carbonate | >2.27× | >573 µm |
| 38 | PBTPolybutylene terephthalate | 3.04× | 768 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 = 5.60×10⁻²⁴ cm³/atom × 8.43×10²¹ atoms/cm² = 0.0472 cm = 472 µm.
- Compared with Kapton H = erosion yield ÷ 3.00×10⁻²⁴ (Kapton H's value on the same flight).
- Film life = 25 µm ÷ 120 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-pmma
spore_version: 0.1
status: measured
org: nasa
dataset: misse2-peace
material:
name: "Polymethyl methacrylate"
abbreviation: "PMMA"
family: Other polymer
category: polymers
type: acrylics
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: 5.60e-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.