Current Testing
This page will describe our ongoing experiments exploring the degradation of Kapton film in lunar environmental conditions.
Testing conditions are as follows:
- Vacuum pressure of approximately 10-7 Torr
- Rapid thermal cycling between -150°C during "lunar night" and 100°C during "lunar day" using an underlying aluminum thermal table
- Ultraviolet light exposure during "lunar day"
The Team
Team Leader: Laura Kruger
Team Members: Miles Crist and Chris Womack
Current Pictures and Data
Click here for a link to a live video feed to see if we are doing a test run in one of our lunar simulation vacuum chambers.
* Please refresh this page to see the latest data.
Current Test: Electronics Survivability
Our team is currently investigating electronics survivability on the Moon. We are performing a test run on Kapton heaters of different wire gauges. The test run will begin with a lunar night cycle. The chamber will switch to a lunar day cycle after 24 hours and we will attempt to revive the heaters by supplying current. If the heaters are able to revive at that time, we will continue the test run with longer night cycles. The test will conclude with a lunar night cycle of a full two weeks, the actual length of a lunar night.
More Information
