The spacecraft for the Solar Probe Plus mission, due to launch in 2018, will encounter an extreme near-Sun thermal and plasma environment. Outgassing of materials such as silicone adhesives in this previously unexplored environment can result in deposits on solar arrays, instrument components, and other sensitive spacecraft surfaces. Array surfaces exposed to UV can cause those deposits to be fixed to the surface, degrading their performance. To assess the severity of the deposits, the Solar Probe Plus program has undertaken a whole-spacecraft modeling effort. At the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), we have built a geometrical model of the spacecraft, selected appropriate material properties, and used the outgassing module of the Systema modeling package to evaluate emission and deposition of silicone. Presented here are the methods and results from the modeling effort.
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