Speaker
Description
The solar absorptance () and emissivity () are important engineering parameters to evaluate the performance of thermal control sub-systems or power generation at solar panels. In the context of future lunar missions, it is important to investigate the effect Lunar Dust Simulants (LDS) contamination on thermo-optical properties and thus performance of thermal and power functional surfaces.
In 2023, results from test campaigns performed on solar cell CoVerGlasses (CVG), Optical Solar Reflectors (OSR) and Second Surface Mirrors (SSM) after deposit of LDS have been presented.
This paper provides complementary data on paintings, coatings and MLI outer layers with the same LDS types (LHS-1 and LHS1-25A from Exolith Lab) and for larger range of Percentage Area Coverage (PAC or %cov) of LDS sub-monolayers (from 5 to 80 %).
The large available set of data allows for highlighting the main trends in response of emissivity and solar absorptance as a function of dust coverage. A metric is proposed to link dust coverage to degradation of solar absorptance and emissivity for all tested material. Finally the approach to account for LDS contamination with the thermal design will be discussed.
