In situ measurement of atomic oxygen flux using a silver film sensor onboard “TianTuo 1” nanosatellite

• A silver film sensor is designed for in-situ measurement of atomic oxygen flux.
• The quantitative model of atomic oxygen flux estimation is established.
• The ground experiment is carried out and compared with Kapton film method.
• The space flight test implements the in-situ measurement.

Research into the measurement of atomic oxygen (AO) flux in a low Earth orbit (LEO) is highly significant for the development of spacecraft surface materials as well as for enhancing the reliability of space instruments. In the present study, we studied a silver film resistance method for AO flux measurement and we established a quantitative calculation model. Moreover, we designed a silver film sensor for space flight tests with a mass of about 100 g and a peak power consumption of less than 0.2 W. The effect of AO on the silver film was demonstrated in a ground-based simulation experiment and compared with the Kapton-mass-loss method. For the space flight test, the AO flux was estimated by monitoring the change in the resistance in the linear part of the silver/AO reaction regime. Finally, the sensor was carried onboard our nanosatellite “TianTuo 1” to obtain in situ measurements of the AO flux during a 476 km sun synchronous orbit. The result was critically compared with theoretical predictions, which validated the design of this sensor.