11 Dec
2008
11 Dec
'08
3:35 a.m.
Graham Shirville wrote:
Hi all,
I think this is a new one!
It has been suggested that the nylon "fishing line" that is sometime used on space craft to retain a deployable item like an antenna or sensor will decay quickly in space due to radiation and out gassing destroying its structure.
If I remember were some samples of plastic on the Long Duration Exposure Facility that were completely gone by the time a shuttle retrieved it. If memory serves elemental oxygen was involved. Check out http://setas-www.larc.nasa.gov/LDEF/index.html for details.
-Joe KM1P