LDEF (Postflight), AO178 : A High-Resolution Study of Ultra-heavy Cosmic-Ray Nuclei, Tray A02 EL-1994-00387 LDEF (Postflight), AO178 : A High-Resolution Study of Ultra-heavy Cosmic-Ray Nuclei, Tray A02 The postflight photograph of the Ultra Heavy Cosmic Ray Experiment (UHCRE) was taken in SAEF II at KSC prior to removal of the experiment tray from the LDEF. The white paint dot on the experiment tray clamp blocks located at the center of the trays upper and right flanges and at the left end of the trays lower flange appear to be discolored by a brown stain. The experiment tray flanges also appear to be coated but with a lighter colored stain. The UHCRE detectors were contained in 16 peripheral LDEF trays with at least one UHCRE tray located on each row of the LDEF except row 3, row 9 and row 12. Each tray contains three cylindrical aluminum pressure vessels with an integral aluminum support structure. Each cylinder is filled with an Eccofoam insert that houses 4 UHCRE detector stacks. Each stack consist of layers of Lexan polycarbonate sheets (approximately 70) interleaved with several thin sheets of lead. Forty-seven of the 48 pressure vessels were pressurized to 1.0 bar with a dry gas mixture (oxygen, nitrogen and helium) and sealed. One of the units was left unsealed in order to investigate the effects of the vacuum environment on the detector materials. Thermal control was accomplished by attaching an aluminized Kapton thermal cover on the tray bottom (the Kapton facing the LDEF interior), placing the aluminum cylinder support structure on thermal isolators and covering the experiment with a thin (5 mil) silvered TEFLON_ thermal cover. The silvered TEFLON_ cover was supported by an aluminum frame, an integral part of the experiment structure, and held in place by Velcro pads selectively located on the frame and on the back of the cover. The copper colored strip extending over the trays lower flange is a copper coated pressure sensitive tape used to provide an electrical ground between the experiments thermal cover and the LDEF structure. The UHCRE thermal cover appears to be specular and intact with no apparent damage. It appears less taut than in the flight photograph. The uniformly located oval spots on the thermal cover are areas where Velcro pads attach the thermal cover to the support frame and appear more visible than in the prelaunch photograph. The scallop effect around the cover edges occurs between the cover attach points and shows the upper edge of the support frame. The ground strap appears to be in place with no visible damage but is a darker color.
