Spacecraft outgassing, a largely underestimated phenomenon

Abstract

Rosetta is the first spacecraft where the gaseous envelope of the spacecraft arising from outgassing has been measured with very high sensitivity, down to partial pressures of ∼10−15 mbar. Measurements cover more than six years and a large range of heliocentric distances (0.8 — 4 AU). Here, we report outgassing studies of the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) for the last six years.