Spacecraft Material Outgassing Data

This compilation of outgassing data of materials intended for spacecraft use were obtained at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), utilizing equipment developed at Stanford Research Institue (SRI) under contract to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). SRI personnel developed an apparatus for determining the mass loss in vacuum and for collecting the outgassed products. Their report (Reference 1), which contained data from June 1964 to August 1967, served well as a foundation for selecting spacecraft materials with low outgassing properties. The apparatus was also constructed at GSFC and, based on the SRI data and GSFC data, a GSFC report (Reference 2) was published. That report included data for those materials meeting two criteria: a maximum total mass loss (TML) of 1.0 percent and maximum collected volatile condensable material (CVCM) of 0.10 percent. After a series of tests and verification of procedures, an American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard Test Method was developed, based upon this apparatus. The method, 'Total Mass Loss (TML) and Collected Volatile Condensable Materials (CVCM) from Outgassing in a Vacuum Environment,' is identified as E 595-77/84/90. The data developed through the years have been reported in References 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 as a means of assisting in selecting materials for space flight use.