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First results of the ORGANIC experiment on EXPOSE-R on the ISS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2014

K.L. Bryson ,
F. Salama Open the ORCID record for F. Salama [Opens in a new window] ,
A. Elsaesser ,
Z. Peeters ,
A.J. Ricco ,
B.H. Foing  and
Y. Goreva
K.L. Bryson*
Affiliation:
Space Science and Astrobiology Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, 625 2nd St, Ste. 209, Petaluma, CA 94952, USA
F. Salama
Affiliation:
Space Science and Astrobiology Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
A. Elsaesser
Affiliation:
Leiden Institute of Chemistry, P.O. Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
Z. Peeters
Affiliation:
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institute of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Rd, Washington DC 20015, USA
A.J. Ricco
Affiliation:
Small Spacecraft Payloads and Technologies, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
B.H. Foing
Affiliation:
European Space Agency, ESTEC, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Y. Goreva
Affiliation:
Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
*
e-mail: kathryn.bryson@nasa.gov
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Abstract

The ORGANIC experiment on EXPOSE-R spent 682 days outside the International Space Station, providing continuous exposure to the cosmic-, solar- and trapped-particle radiation background for fourteen samples: 11 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and three fullerenes. The thin films of the ORGANIC experiment received, during space exposure, an irradiation dose of the order of 14 000 MJ m−2 over 2900 h of unshadowed solar illumination. Extensive analyses were performed on the returned samples and the results compared to ground control measurements. Analytical studies of the returned samples included spectral measurements from the vacuum ultraviolet to the infrared range and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Limited spectral changes were observed in most cases pointing to the stability of PAHs and fullerenes under space exposure conditions. Furthermore, the results of these experiments confirm the known trend in the stability of PAH species according to molecular structure: compact PAHs are more stable than non-compact PAHs, which are themselves more stable than PAHs containing heteroatoms, the last category being the most prone to degradation in the space environment. We estimate a depletion rate of the order of 85 ± 5% over the 17 equivalent weeks of continuous unshadowed solar exposure in the most extreme case tetracene (smallest, non-compact PAH sample). The insignificant spectral changes (below 10%) measured for solid films of large or compact PAHs and fullerenes indicate a high stability under the range of space exposure conditions investigated on EXPOSE-R.

Keywords

astrobiologyEXPOSE-RfullerenesInternational Space StationORGANIC experimentPAHsphotolysissolar exposure
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 14 , Special Issue 1: SPECIAL ISSUE: EXPOSE-R , January 2015 , pp. 55 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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