Other
Scientific paper
Aug 1986
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1986p%26ss...34..665k&link_type=abstract
Planetary and Space Science, Volume 34, Issue 8, p. 665-681.
Other
10
Scientific paper
Existing data on the optical glows that extend from low earth-orbiting space vehicles are shown to be consistent with recombination of ambient atmospheric species on ram-exposed surfaces. This radiation is most intense from the velocity direction because of the greatly enhanced fluxes of air atoms and molecules; if these particles' up-to-10 eV relative kinetic energy plays any part, it would be creating and maintaining sites from which internally-excited fragments can be desorbed-``conditioning'' the surface-rather than overcoming potential barriers of reactions with substrate or putative contaminant species. Surface-catalyzed exothermic recombination qualitatively explains the reported differences as well as similarities among spacecraft in spectral intensities and spatial distributions of glows, and predicts further emissions at ultraviolet (among them O2 A --> X, NO B --> X, and perhaps also N2a-->X bands), infrared (NO2 and NO vibrational cascade), and to a lesser extent visible, wavelengths. A systematic survey of the literature shows that similarly unequilibrated desorbates are commonly observed in the surface-science and kinetics laboratory, a finding that provides a framework for future experiments on chemiluminescence excited by spacecraft. Quantitatively, vehicle glow presents a severe technical challenge because of the complexity and virtual uncharacterizability of the materials exposed to the airflow and the potential for interference among surface reactions of the several incident aeronomic species.
Barrett J. L.
Kofsky Irving L.
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