Tightly Coupled Mechanistic Study of Materials in the Extreme Space Environment

Abstract : The Tightly Coupled Mechanistic Study of Materials in the Extreme Space Environment Group has workedto examine spacecraft contamination issues from the perspective ofnon- equilibrium gas dynamics (Levin), material response at the atomistic level (Rajan), high fidelity gassurfacechemistry models (van Duin), and experiments to characterizeand test spacecraft material damage by small source ion bombardment (Sedwick). The goals of the grouphave been ambitious given the multi-length and time-scale facets thatmake this problem tremendously challenging. The length scales of contamination vary by probably twelveorders of magnitude and the variation in time scales is similar. The group has had a number of successes,described in 43 journal and conference papers that have been published or are in progress. Weestablished collaborations across length scales, ranging from the smallest (Angstroms) to thelargest scales. As such, significant progress was made in the development of computational andexperimental collaborative frameworks suitable for predicting thespacecraft environment for new propellants and spacecraft materials.