{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34680"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34680","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Studies of plume condensation contamination upon surfaces of the Terrestrial Planet Finder spacecraft","abstract":"There are two competing concepts for the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission, one which involves a single spacecraft, and another comprised of a five craft formation. In addition, there are several propulsion options under consideration. Unique contamination issues affect the formation-flying concept due to the close proximity of the spacecrafts. Select surfaces must be maintained at the low temperature of 40 K. There is concern that propellant expelled from one craft will condense on the cryogenic surfaces of a neighboring craft, adversely affecting performance and the integrity of the observational data. The condensation properties of warm Xenon, Krypton, and Argon upon a cryogenically-chilled QCM were characterized at a range of temperatures and pressures. Heats of adsorption were predicted with a model to solve for intermolecular forces, and experimental data was used to assess the model's validity. Knowledge of the heat of adsorption was used to determine the equilibrium level of surface coverage for both a pulsed and constant operation thruster, for a range of impinging gas fluxes. The model aims to aid in the selection of an appropriate propulsion system and propellant for the TPF spacecraft.","abstract_html":"There are two competing concepts for the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission, one which involves a single spacecraft, and another comprised of a five craft formation. In addition, there are several propulsion options under consideration. Unique contamination issues affect the formation-flying concept due to the close proximity of the spacecrafts. Select surfaces must be maintained at the low temperature of 40 K. There is concern that propellant expelled from one craft will condense on the cryogenic surfaces of a neighboring craft, adversely affecting performance and the integrity of the observational data. The condensation properties of warm Xenon, Krypton, and Argon upon a cryogenically-chilled QCM were characterized at a range of temperatures and pressures. Heats of adsorption were predicted with a model to solve for intermolecular forces, and experimental data was used to assess the model's validity. Knowledge of the heat of adsorption was used to determine the equilibrium level of surface coverage for both a pulsed and constant operation thruster, for a range of impinging gas fluxes. The model aims to aid in the selection of an appropriate propulsion system and propellant for the TPF spacecraft.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pigeon, Timothy David"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Manuel Martínez-Sánchez."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005","date_published":"2005","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:07Z","subjects":["Aeronautics and Astronautics."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34680","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Manuel Martínez-Sánchez."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34680"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2005.","Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-82)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["There are two competing concepts for the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission, one which involves a single spacecraft, and another comprised of a five craft formation. In addition, there are several propulsion options under consideration. Unique contamination issues affect the formation-flying concept due to the close proximity of the spacecrafts. Select surfaces must be maintained at the low temperature of 40 K. There is concern that propellant expelled from one craft will condense on the cryogenic surfaces of a neighboring craft, adversely affecting performance and the integrity of the observational data. The condensation properties of warm Xenon, Krypton, and Argon upon a cryogenically-chilled QCM were characterized at a range of temperatures and pressures. Heats of adsorption were predicted with a model to solve for intermolecular forces, and experimental data was used to assess the model's validity. Knowledge of the heat of adsorption was used to determine the equilibrium level of surface coverage for both a pulsed and constant operation thruster, for a range of impinging gas fluxes. The model aims to aid in the selection of an appropriate propulsion system and propellant for the TPF spacecraft."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.M."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Studies of plume condensation contamination upon surfaces of the Terrestrial Planet Finder spacecraft"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Manuel Martínez-Sánchez."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics."],"dc:contributor.other":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics."],"dc:creator":["Pigeon, Timothy David"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2006-11-07T17:18:53Z"],"dc:date.available":["2006-11-07T17:18:53Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2005"],"dc:description":["Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2005.","Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-82)."],"dc:description.abstract":["There are two competing concepts for the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission, one which involves a single spacecraft, and another comprised of a five craft formation. In addition, there are several propulsion options under consideration. Unique contamination issues affect the formation-flying concept due to the close proximity of the spacecrafts. Select surfaces must be maintained at the low temperature of 40 K. There is concern that propellant expelled from one craft will condense on the cryogenic surfaces of a neighboring craft, adversely affecting performance and the integrity of the observational data. The condensation properties of warm Xenon, Krypton, and Argon upon a cryogenically-chilled QCM were characterized at a range of temperatures and pressures. Heats of adsorption were predicted with a model to solve for intermolecular forces, and experimental data was used to assess the model's validity. Knowledge of the heat of adsorption was used to determine the equilibrium level of surface coverage for both a pulsed and constant operation thruster, for a range of impinging gas fluxes. The model aims to aid in the selection of an appropriate propulsion system and propellant for the TPF spacecraft."],"dc:description.degree":["S.M."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34680"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Aeronautics and Astronautics."],"dc:title":["Studies of plume condensation contamination upon surfaces of the Terrestrial Planet Finder spacecraft"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:07Z"}