Quantification of spacecraft heatshield contaminants seen in reentry shock layer emissions using calibration-free LIBS

IF 3.3 2区化学 Q2 CHEMISTRY, ANALYTICAL

Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry Pub Date : 2026-02-06 DOI:10.1039/D5JA00374A

Keira J. Leistikow, Noshin Nawar, Justin I. Borrero-Negrón, Marat Kulakhmetov, Paolo Valentini and Ashwin P. Rao

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Abstract

Shock layer thermochemistry during atmospheric reentry of spacecraft is strongly influenced by the composition of thermal protection system (TPS) materials. In this study, we implement calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (CF-LIBS) to profile cross-sections of phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA) and room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone from the heatshield of a commercial reentry capsule. CF-LIBS measurements determine that these materials contain alkali and alkaline earth contaminants (e.g., Na, Ca) at levels up to 10 parts-per-million (ppm) and heavier metals like Fe at 10³ ppm. Contaminant concentrations are linked to observed strong atomic radiators identified from in situ shock layer emissions taken during reentry, demonstrating the value of CF-LIBS for interpreting complex shock-layer emission data from reentry spacecraft.

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使用无校准LIBS对再入冲击层发射中看到的航天器隔热层污染物进行量化

热防护系统（TPS）材料的组成对航天器大气层再入冲击层热化学性质有很大影响。在这项研究中，我们采用无需校准的激光诱导击穿光谱（CF-LIBS）来分析来自商业返回舱隔热板的酚醛浸渍碳烧蚀（PICA）和室温硫化（RTV）硅酮的截面。CF-LIBS测量确定这些材料含有高达百万分之10的碱和碱土污染物（例如Na， Ca）和103 ppm的铁等重金属。污染物浓度与观测到的强原子辐射有关，这些强原子辐射是在再入时从原位激波层发射中识别出来的，这证明了CF-LIBS在解释再入航天器的复杂激波层发射数据方面的价值。

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