2007 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 43-
Five kinds of ceramic specimens, aluminum nitride, two kinds of silicon carbides fabricated by hot-pressing and reaction-sintering, and titanium nitrides ion-plated on aluminum and alumina plates space-exposed at the Service Module of the International Space Station were examined to evaluate property change. These specimens were fixed on the three sets of sample trays, which were set onto the external wall of the service module. The first set of specimens was retrieved after 315 days. After exposure in space, solar absorptance of all specimens increased. The roughness average of the surface became larger after space exposure for the case of aluminum nitride and silicon carbides specimens. The grain boundary phase of the reaction-sintered silicon carbide was obviously eroded, and many tiny particles were observed on the surface of grain boundary phase after the space exposure. The surface oxygen content of the space-exposed silicon carbide specimens where was not covered by a fixture jig increased markedly compared with those of blank, atomic oxygen-irradiated specimens and the covered part of the space-exposed specimens. After space exposure, oxygen was detected up to ～ 10 nm from the surface, which was deeper than the range calculated by SRIM-2003 code.
