NASA/TM—2012-217823 Contamination Control Assessment of the World’s Largest Space Environment Simulation Chamber Aaron Snyder, Michael W. Henry, and Stanley P. Grisnik Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio Stephen M. Sinclair Sierra Lobo, Inc., Fremont, Ohio December 2012 NASA STI Program . in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected advancement of aeronautics and space science. The papers from scientific and technical NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) conferences, symposia, seminars, or other program plays a key part in helping NASA maintain meetings sponsored or cosponsored by NASA. this important role. • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, The NASA STI Program operates under the auspices technical, or historical information from of the Agency Chief Information Officer. It collects, NASA programs, projects, and missions, often organizes, provides for archiving, and disseminates concerned with subjects having substantial NASA’s STI. The NASA STI program provides access public interest. to the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database and its public interface, the NASA Technical Reports • TECHNICAL TRANSLATION. English- Server, thus providing one of the largest collections language translations of foreign scientific and of aeronautical and space science STI in the world. technical material pertinent to NASA’s mission. Results are published in both non-NASA channels and by NASA in the NASA STI Report Series, which Specialized services also include creating custom includes the following report types: thesauri, building customized databases, organizing and publishing research results. • TECHNICAL PUBLICATION. Reports of completed research or a major significant phase For more information about the NASA STI of research that present the results of NASA program, see the following: programs and include extensive data or theoretical analysis. Includes compilations of significant • Access the NASA STI program home page at scientific and technical data and information http://www.sti.nasa.gov deemed to be of continuing reference value. NASA counterpart of peer-reviewed formal • E-mail your question to [email protected] professional papers but has less stringent limitations on manuscript length and extent of • Fax your question to the NASA STI graphic presentations. Information Desk at 443–757–5803 • TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM. Scientific • Phone the NASA STI Information Desk at and technical findings that are preliminary or 443–757–5802 of specialized interest, e.g., quick release reports, working papers, and bibliographies that • Write to: contain minimal annotation. Does not contain STI Information Desk extensive analysis. NASA Center for AeroSpace Information 7115 Standard Drive • CONTRACTOR REPORT. Scientific and Hanover, MD 21076–1320 technical findings by NASA-sponsored contractors and grantees. NASA/TM—2012-217823 Contamination Control Assessment of the World’s Largest Space Environment Simulation Chamber Aaron Snyder, Michael W. Henry, and Stanley P. Grisnik Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio Stephen M. Sinclair Sierra Lobo, Inc., Fremont, Ohio Prepared for the 27th Space Simulation Conference cosponsored by the IEST, NASA, CSA, AIAA, ASTM, and JHU/APL Annapolis, Maryland, November 5–8, 2012 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio 44135 December 2012 Trade names and trademarks are used in this report for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Level of Review: This material has been technically reviewed by technical management. Available from NASA Center for Aerospace Information National Technical Information Service 7115 Standard Drive 5301 Shawnee Road Hanover, MD 21076–1320 Alexandria, VA 22312 Available electronically at http://www.sti.nasa.gov Contamination Control Assessment of the World’s Largest Space Environment Simulation Chamber Aaron Snyder, Michael W. Henry, and Stanley P. Grisnik National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio 44135 Stephen M. Sinclair Sierra Lobo, Inc. Fremont, Ohio 43420 Abstract The Space Power Facility’s thermal vacuum test chamber is the largest chamber in the world capable of providing an environment for space simulation. To improve performance and meet stringent requirements of a wide customer base, significant modifications were made to the vacuum chamber. These include major changes to the vacuum system and numerous enhancements to the chamber’s unique polar crane, with a goal of providing high cleanliness levels. The significance of these changes and modifications are discussed in this paper. In addition, the composition and arrangement of the pumping system and its impact on molecular back-streaming are discussed in detail. Molecular contamination measurements obtained with a TQCM and witness wafers during two recent integrated system tests of the chamber are presented and discussed. Finally, a concluding remarks section is presented. Introduction This paper presents aspects of contamination control in the Space Power Facility (SPF) thermal vacuum test chamber. This test chamber is the largest chamber in the world capable of providing an environment for space simulation. SPF is located at the NASA Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio. The thermal vacuum chamber has a rich heritage, in large part by being able to accommodate a wide range of testing environments, ranging from ambient pressures and temperatures of launch, through ascent, to the extreme low pressures and widely fluctuating temperatures occurring in space. The facility was designed and constructed to test both nuclear and non-nuclear space hardware in a simulated low- Earth-orbit environment. Although the facility was designed for testing nuclear hardware, only non- nuclear tests have been performed throughout its history. Some of the test programs that have been performed at the facility include high-energy experiments, rocket-fairing separation tests, Mars Lander system tests, deployable Solar Sail tests and International Space Station hardware tests. The large chamber size accommodates both small and bulky test article configurations. With the additions of two new testing facilities within SPF, adding world-class vibration and acoustic capability, the thermal vacuum chamber is the cornerstone of a comprehensive facility for conducting a variety of ground- based tests. The SPF Facility layout, shown in Figure 1, is ideal for performing multiple test programs. The facility has two large high bay areas adjacent to either side of the vacuum chamber. The advantage of having both areas available is that it accommodates the undertaking of two complex test programs. For example, one test can be prepared in a high bay while another test is being conducted in the vacuum test chamber. Large chamber doors provide access to the test chamber from either high bay. The test chamber is enclosed inside a larger concrete vacuum chamber. NASA/TM—2012-217823 1 Figure 1.—Solid model view of SPF’s thermal-vacuum chamber. For thermal-vacuum testing, the SPF has a cryoshroud that is being structurally modified for use in a vertical configuration, as illustrated in Figure 2, rather than in a horizontal Quonset-hut like configuration as most recently deployed. The vertical orientation allows it to enclose tall test articles. In order to provide access in this orientation, it will be able to open and close at either end in a clam-shell fashion. The thermal environment range provided by the cryoshroud will be approximately –157 to 66 °C (–250 to 150 °F). Background contamination produced by the chamber can significantly degrade the inherent capability of even a well-designed and contaminant-free shroud to provide a clean environment. To minimize background contamination, significant changes and modifications were made to improve vacuum chamber performance. For many of these improvements, emphasis was placed on meeting requirements of a wider customer base, particularly those having stringent contamination control requirements. These alterations include major changes to the large and complex vacuum-pumping system and numerous enhancements to the chamber’s unique polar crane. In addition to hardware and material improvements, a thorough cleaning of the test chamber was performed in the year 2007 by a commercial vendor to remove existing contaminants such as diffusion pump oil. Diffusion pumps are not a component of the current pumping system. Recently, two system integration tests were conducted at high vacuum, which provided key opportunities to establish chamber background levels of molecular contamination. It was intended that contamination results obtained during these system integration tests serve not only as a basis to characterize empty chamber cleanliness but also to establish a reference characterization to judge contamination issues pertaining to testing with the cryoshroud in place. It should be emphasized that the test chamber results presented in this paper are for vacuum testing without the cryoshroud placed in the chamber. NASA/TM—2012-217823 2 Figure 2.—Solid model view of the thermal-vacuum chamber with cryoshroud in place. The main body of this paper is outlined as follows. First, brief descriptions of the concrete enclosure and test chamber are given. Second, the composition and arrangement of the current pumping systems are reviewed. This review