dietz%USC-CSE@USC-ECL.ARPA (03/29/84)
NASA has discovered corrosion problems during shuttle flights. You'd think that, in orbit, there'd be no corrosion in the vacuum. Unfortunately, the shuttle orbits in a region occupied by a very thin gas of atomic oxygen, which is very reactive. Since the shuttle is flying through the gas so fast, it is estimated that an atom on the shuttle's surface is hit by an oxygen atom once every second. Plastics have been found to deteriorate rapidly in this environment. Erosion rates of 1/2000 of a inch per day have been found. The atomic oxygen also attacks the binder in paints; NASA has noticed the paint on the inside of the cargo bay coming off after each flight.