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Completed TRL 8 (started at 2, targeting 8)
The Wallops Ambient Light Radiometer and Ultraviolet Sensor Suite (WALRUSS) is a standalone instrument package designed to capture data on the ultraviolet (UV) exposure of the balloon system in flight. Understanding the UV exposure received during flight is critical to completing an accurate lifetime analysis for the balloon structure materials for ultra-long duration missions.
The main objectives of WALRUSS are to:
The instrument will gather data on the flight environment. This data will be used to establish the testing conditions for the controlled weathering testing performed in the Balloon Research and Development Lab and aid in a material lifetime determination for all the polymeric materials used in the balloon system.
The Balloon Program Office (BPO) has identified the need for sensors to evaluate the ambient flight environment (Roth, 2020). UV light is a significant cause of material degradation. The UVA, UVB and UVC ranges span from 200-400 nm, which encompasses the wavelengths needed to break carbon-carbon, nitrogen-hydrogen and carbon-hydrogen bonds. These bonds are some of the primary components of balloon film, parachute, and non-metal cabling. Ozone also plays a huge roll in material embrittlement by providing free radical oxygen for crosslinking to previously broken bonds. Both the energy required for bond scission and the ozonolysis mechanism are well known but the exact intensity encountered by polymeric materials in stratospheric flight has not yet been documented.
Understanding the environment will allow the program to better define the lifetime of the material in flight. This will enable a more clearly defined flight duration as well as provide the necessary information to investigate material treatments to protect the materials inflight, resulting in an increase in their usable life.
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