(ORDO NEWS) — Space probes designed to study the Sun are the last place to expect a humidity problem.
However, a recent study showed that the aluminum filters on two different satellites are deteriorating as water corrodes their surfaces.
Filters help detect extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emissions, so any haze is bound to affect their performance. Although the problem has been obvious for a while, scientists now finally know what is causing it.
NASA‘s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and NASA and ESA‘s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) are facing the same problem.
In the first six months, the SOHO solar EUV monitor deteriorated by about 35 percent, and in the next five years it deteriorated by another 60 percent.
Solar probes are not exactly cheap. If scientists figure out why the filters are fogging up, it could lead to future solar probe missions becoming more reliable.
In 2021, a team of scientists led by physicist Charles Tarrio of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) experimentally discovered carbon buildups that cause fogging.
Now they have figured out what it is: aluminum oxidation caused by the presence of water and ultraviolet radiation. As layers of oxidized metal build up, the filter becomes hazy, preventing light waves from passing through.
The surface of aluminum is coated with a surface layer of oxide, which is formed when oxygen atoms bond with atoms on the aluminum surface. UV light increases the rate of oxidation, causing additional oxide layers to form.
Usually there is not enough oxygen in space to oxidize aluminum, but the presence of water containing oxygen atoms can make its own adjustments.
In the future, the team hopes to explore ways to prevent this oxidation, which will help the hardware operate without fogging up.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.