SPACE TRIBOLOGY ACTIVITIES IN JAPAN -LABORATORY DATA AND FLIGHT EXPERIMENT ABOARD SFU/EFFU

摘要

This paper describes recent laboratory experiments on space tribology as well as flight experiments aboard SFU/EFFU. Tribological properties of single crystal molybdenum disulfide have been studied during atomic oxygen exposure. Surface characterization of the MoS_2 with Auger electron spectroscopy was carried out without breaking vacuum. Small amount of oxygen was detected after exposure to atomic oxygen beam. High start-up friction was obvious in the case of AO-exposed MoS_2. An organic binder type spray-bonded MoS_2 film flown on the SFU/EFFU showed no difference in tribological performance from the control samople. Moreover, the wear life of the flight sample was even longer than the control sample. This unexpected effect was explained by the polymerization of the binder due to UV exposure in the orbit.