Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Corrosion in space is the corrosion of materials occurring in outer space.Instead of moisture and oxygen acting as the primary corrosion causes, the materials exposed to outer space are subjected to vacuum, bombardment by ultraviolet and X-rays, solar energetic particles (mostly electrons and protons from solar wind), and electromagnetic radiation. [1]
Additionally, satellites in VLEO are exposed to very high levels of elemental oxygen, [19] also known as atomic oxygen (AO), a highly reactive form of oxygen that corrodes most substances quickly. [20] This requires the use of special coatings to protect objects and equipment in this orbit.
There are several known allotropes of oxygen. The most familiar is molecular oxygen (O 2), present at significant levels in Earth's atmosphere and also known as dioxygen or triplet oxygen. Another is the highly reactive ozone (O 3). Others are: Atomic oxygen (O 1), a free radical. Singlet oxygen (O * 2), one of two metastable states of ...
2 combines with atomic oxygen made by the splitting of O 2 by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. [22] Since ozone absorbs strongly in the UV region of the spectrum, the ozone layer of the upper atmosphere functions as a protective radiation shield for the planet. [22] Near the Earth's surface, it is a pollutant formed as a by-product of automobile ...
Atomic oxygen, which is the most prevalent atomic species encountered in low earth orbit, is highly reactive with plastics and some metals, causing severe erosion. There is also extreme ultraviolet radiation due to the lack of an atmospheric filter. This radiation deteriorates and darkens many plastics and coatings.
Note that S. T. Demetriades pioneered in space propulsion, from the atomic oxygen ramjet (he proved it not feasible in the 1950s) to nuclear, ion, and plasma thrusters. He received the 2010 AIAA Award for Plasmadynamics and Lasers.
Hydrogen is present throughout the exosphere, with some helium, carbon dioxide, and atomic oxygen near its base. Because it can be hard to define the boundary between the exosphere and outer space, the exosphere may be considered a part of the interplanetary medium or outer space. Earth's exosphere produces Earth's geocorona.
Atomic astrophysics is concerned with performing atomic physics calculations that will be useful to astronomers and using atomic data to interpret astronomical observations. Atomic physics plays a key role in astrophysics as astronomers' only information about a particular object comes through the light that it emits, and this light arises ...