Evaluation of New Thermal Control Material for Interior Planet Missions

A thermal control materials using a polyimide film named UPILEX-S™ is investigated concerning incident angle dependence of solar absorptance, temperature dependence of total hemispherical emittance, performances in flight and ground tests, and causes of degradation. The experiment indicated that the absorption coefficient increases at 0.44μm wavelength under protons and electrons radiation. The degradation seems to be caused by the generation of radicals.