Experimental study of carbon materials behavior under high temperature and VUV radiation: Application to Solar Probe+ heat shield

The aim of the Solar Probe Plus (SP+) mission is to understand how the solar corona is heated and how the solar wind is accelerated. To achieve these goals, in situ measurements are necessary and the spacecraft has to approach the Sun as close as 9.5 solar radii. This trajectory induces extreme environmental conditions such as high temperatures and intense Vacuum Ultraviolet radiation (VUV). To protect the measurement and communication instruments, a heat shield constituted of a carbon material is placed on the top of the probe. In this study, the physical and chemical behavior of carbon materials is experimentally investigated under high temperatures (1600–2100 K), high vacuum (10−4 Pa) and VUV radiation in conditions near those at perihelion for SP+. Thanks to several in situ and ex situ characterizations, it was found that VUV radiation induced modification of outgassing and of mass loss rate together with alteration of microstructure and morphology.